


Wild at Heart

by Oddornot



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Anger, Angst and Feels, Animal Death, Arthur Morgan Does Not Have Tuberculosis, Autism, Bad Jokes, Blood and Violence, Character Death, F/M, Flirting, Fluff and Smut, Funny, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kidnapping, Major Character Injury, Marriage, Mental Instability, Murder, Please Don't Hate Me, Possessive Behavior, Protectiveness, Sarcasm, Scheming, Self-Doubt, Self-Hatred, Strangers to Lovers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Vaginal Sex, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:40:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 26
Words: 99,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28693356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oddornot/pseuds/Oddornot
Summary: An illtempered, intelligent nobullshit lady falls into the world of Red dead redempton 2, but the year is1889, the past and the present are mixed up together makeing it hard to get a grip of what's to happen and what's to come. Our lady of the story is called Joey and falls into the Van der Linde gang, and meets the man she hates, Dutch...but she is determined to find her happyness in this odd world of past and present.
Relationships: Colm O'Driscoll/Reader, Dutch van der Linde/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 35





	1. The Journey

Every journey starts with a single step….

Truer words are seldom said..

You don’t know how on earth you got here, you had just woken up near a tree near Manzanita outpost. Looking around you were a bit confused, and rightly so. It started with you finishing the Red dead redemption 2 game awhile back, when you had finished the game you had quite the festering and toxic hate towards Dutch van der Idiot as you called him. 

The fool, the idiot, the spineless rat. Oh, how you despised him and oddly Javier and Bill had also earned your festering hate. 

Now here you were, looking around you saw trees, grass and something black? 

“Snort” The black thing said.

“Ahh!” You said jumping up to your feet. 

“The black thing nibbled your arm” It was a horse, and quite a horse too, a pure black magnificent turkoman stallion.

“Oh.” Hello there friend you said, adjusting your feet you approached the stallion, it was tacked and ready for action. You assumed it had to be your horse since there was no one else around, except maybe a bear or two.

“Snort.” The stallion said again and moved towards you, it placed it’s beautiful head at your shoulder, as to say hello master.

You laughed, well then I guess you're mine then...Bacchus

The stallion flicked it’s tail, as to say hmm good name. You noticed that there was a note at the stallion's saddle.

“What's this Bacchus?” You grabbed the note and looked at it and started reading it, here is what it said: Hello Joey, Your wish has come true, it’s 1889 the O’driscolls and Van der Linde’s are not enemies..yet. But enough about this matter, you are to go to Blackwater bank where your journey and destiny awaits!

“Ehh,ok this does sound quite like something bad will happen there don’t it Bacchus?” You looked to your horse who was eating grass and totally uninterested.

“Great, here I am talking to a horse and you looked at yourself, what am I even wearing?” You went to Bacchus saddlebags and luckily found guns, cool guns I might add to LeMat revolvers which had been upgraded and looked like skull guns, hehe nice you thought to yourself. You then found a mirror and looked at yourself, there you saw your face it was still you in the reflection. Many had complimented your rare hair color which is a slightly lighter dark brown with natural blonde streaks in it, and thick as a wolf's fur. You then turned the mirror to your face and the scar at your right eye was still there. Sure, it was small but still it was where it belonged, which comforted you in a way oddly enough. Then you looked at your eyes, you always had been proud of your eyes, they are truly rare indeed, a pale green with a little gray in them, and around the iris there was an almost yellow color around the iris.

The clothes you wore were the Legend of the east outfit, minus the hat. 

Everything else seemed to be you..

“Hmm I wonder if I can use these guns or else I will have problems” You said to the still uninterested Bacchus. 

“A Little enthusiasm wouldn't kill you buddy!” You scolded Bacchus, with a little frown.

“Snort?” Is all he said back. Swishing his tail to emphasize the point. 

“Hmph” You answered back. 

You walked to a clearing in the trees and saw some old dead branches you could shoot at at an old tree. Perfect you thought to yourself, now to start, you were almost on clouds you had never shot a gun before yet alone loaded one. Yet your body and hands seemed to know what to do, you almost automatically loaded the gun, and started aiming at the dead branches. 

“Huh, well isn’t this practical.” You said to yourself, this will help greatly. You took your aim at the dead branches and fired several shoots, one for each branch which was five. It seemed that you knew what you were doing because you nailed all those shots and you had purposely chosen Micah level hard shoots. 

“Aha! Would you look at that!” You shouted to yourself and Bacchus You were happy that playing this game had somehow made you a gifted gun wielder. 

Confident that you knew that you could shoot, aim, and reload too.You mounted Bacchus and slowly started the journey to Blackwater bank. 

If you even knew what you had in store there….


	2. Journey to Blackwater

You were making good time on the journey the note said would lead you to some adventure. As a practical woman such nonsense had never fazed you, bah nothing but fables it was. But still here you were, and you had no logical explanation to all of this.

You had just arrived near the little forest clearing near Beecher’s Hope. Ohh who were you fool. This was epic, exciting, positively thrilling, you were going to have so much fun! You could not keep your nerves in your body. You spurred Bacchus to a gallop dead straight to Blackwater, as you galloped you noticed that something was slapping your hip, a satchel.

“How could I miss this?” You said in small words to yourself, taking a quick peek in the satchel you noticed there was a lot of money, 5000 dollars to be exact. You felt somewhat uncomfortable about this. Clearly the forces which had sent you here knew that maybe hard times would be ahead before you. Shaking the thought away you had arrived at the church at Blackwater. You were almost there.

Entering Blackwater you slowed Bacchus to a walk, then you just tried to blend in as best you could in your excited state. Which was a harder task then you thought. Looking around you felt the air in your face, the dust around your horse hooves, this was real you were sure you could smell it and feel it therefore you concluded it was real, good. 

Looking around you noticed that Blackwater looked like it did when John was chasing Dutch in the first game the big bank and Pinkerton building was there, and the gazebo and that large building which you still didn’t know what it was for. 

There was another thing that actually maybe you blush, the men were checking you out and not being very discreet about it either. You were keeping your head low and looked at the women around you, they were actually quite plain and somewhat ugly looking, none looked as pretty as Mary-Beth or Molly, odd you thought. You focused ahead and saw more men howling and whistling after you. Men could really be dogs sometimes…

You saw a bar ahead of you, so you stopped your horse and hitched him to a post and entered the bar. This bar and restaurant was bustling with life, filled with people and some familiar faces. 

“Already?” You thought to yourself.

There at the bar was a young version of Dutch, Hosea, John, Micah and Arthur.  
You almost forgot how to breathe, so you distracted yourself by looking at the clock on the wall, it was almost 17.00, so that bank thing you were supposed to be at could not be today. It then hit you, Dutch has to be the one that would be at the bank tomorrow, he was going to rob it there could be no other explanation to it, logically speaking. You approached the bar slowly and then saw a woman and started to talk with her.

“Hello there lady, could I rent a room and have food delivered to my room?” You asked politely the woman. 

The woman looked up from her papers and looked at you.

“Oh, but of course we happen to have one room left, the town has been quite busy as of late, now that the new bank has been built. Quite big it is.” The lady said happily.

“Ah the big building with the back to the stagecoach stop?” You asked bluntly, you knew it was you were just double checking, as you always were, always the control freak you were, never relaxing. 

“Yes that’s the one.” She said still happy as a dog with a bone.

“Well I guess big banks are still rare out here.” You said a tad bit annoyed, this nonsense was starting to bother you.

“Well how do I do with my room, do I sign somewhere or just take the key?” You asked, getting more annoyed, looking at Dutch and the other had still not noticed you, thankfully.

“Oh yes, sorry guess I just got carried off.” The woman said shyly whilst looking at you she seemed to get it that you were not amused.

“You have to sign your name in this book, and I have to ask where you’re from. that accent sounds a bit unusual.” The woman said a bit more confidently and curiously, while tilting her head to the side.

“Why so curious?” You asked a bit defensively and angrily. 

This proved to be unwise as Dutch and the others stopped talking amongst themselves and looked at you, they were a meger 3 meters from you, so they must have heard most if not all. 

“Why so defensive my dear lady, this fine lady of this establishment was just curious, she means nothing by it.” Dutch said to you, convinced that his charisma and charms would diffuse your anger.

He had no idea of whom he was talking too...


	3. A civil talk at a bar

“Why bother in matters that don’t concern you, mister?” Joey said to him in an almost hissing tone. He just had to talk to you...

“Why this poor woman should not suffer because of your temper” Dutch said in an almost sly tone whilst leaning on the bar. The others of his group seemed to stir and look at you, especially Micah and Arthur. Hosea seemed also a little curious, are ill tempered that uncommon in 1889? 

“Who died and made you the shining knight in armor?” Joey said whilst moving away from the bar. 

Dutch scoffed at you. Whilst Arthur and Micah seemed amused by your statement. Hosea was now fully listening at the conversation between you too, John was apparently sleeping on the bar you had not noticed until now. 

“Well, well who is this angry little lady?” Micah said in his usual drawled out tone, he may look like 29-ish now but he was still the same, mustache included, they must’ve saved him from something or picked him up earlier than before. Which means the gang must’ve saved him from that monster of a father you knew he had or his father had died earlier. 

“Great another one of you, why are you so curious about me?” Joey said in a bland voice, you never cared for attention to yourself, it made you uncomfortable, and moody.

“Alright boys, leave this lady alone, I’m sure her travels have made her angry and tired” Hosea finally said to you seemingly trying to diffuse the hostile air. Always the man with a brain, Joey had always been fond of him, but so were many others back home, this man was worth his weight in gold. 

“I’m Henry, this is Hosiah, and our boys Arthur, Michael, and Jonathan” Hosea said whilst pointing to the group, all had fake names, amusing Joey thought. 

“May I ask for your name and where do you come from, my dear?” Hosea said in a friendly tone, clearly curious about you, he also had Dutch’s, Micah’s and Arthur’s full attention on you, cornering you, he had you right where he wanted you, clever man Joey thought. 

“Hmm, I guess I can tell you, and you lady write this down. I don’t like repeating myself.” Joey said in an angrier tone back, utterly fed up with this, also they had never met you before so your name would surely not harm you, right? 

“I’m Johanna Silverqvist, call me Joey for short, and I’m from Sweden very far away from here.” Joey answered them all in a tired tone.

“Well that sure sounds like it far away, Joey” Hosea answered. 

“It is Henry.” you answered.   
Micah, Arthur and Dutch seemed more curious about you now, they had not met many if any people from your country before. But before you have the chance to think about it the lady behind the bar started talking to you.

“Sweden, wow sounds exciting being from a place so far away, only to end up here in Blackwater, anyway miss Joey, here is your key and today's meal is prairie chicken it should be in your room in about 20 minutes, and your room is on the left to the stairs.” the lady chirped to you in a happy tone.

“Alright then miss, now gentlemen would you kindly enjoy our lovely lady of the bar, since you all are too annoying for me today.” Joey said in a harsh tone back, directly aimed at Dutch. Joey then took her key and went to her room, not sparing them a second glance back, bored and annoyed that had seen them so soon, you did not expect this. 

Dutch pov  
“What a feisty lady that Miss Joey seemed to be,” Dutch said whilst clapping his hands on Hosea's shoulder and laughing. “I don’t think I’ve ever received such a venomous glare from a lady! I must be losing my touch old friend.

Hosea, Arthur and Micah al joined in on the laughter. Clearly amused by the whole situation.

“That is a woman whom only the bravest or most stubborn of men can ever have!” Hosea cheered on to the others whilst laughing loudly back to Dutch.

“What was her problem with you boss, she seemed to hate you right away?” Micah said to Dutch whilst sipping on a beer.

“I don’t know son, maybe I remind her of some she hates, which I guess is everyone giving her cheerful disposition.” Dutch answered back to Micah, he himself confused. 

But it was more than that to you, that girl had sparked a genuine curiosity in him, something that he hadn't experienced since Annabel left him for a local hotshoot of a Marshall. Maybe this was fate? Had this ill tempered Joey dropped down from the heavens to heal your poor lonely heart? Joey seemed to utterly hate you, she ran off as fast she could after speaking to you. She had the prettiest eyes you had seen in a long time, he himself had been with many women but none with eyes like her. Her hair was long and wild, and her clothes were rebellious. A woman with pants was still a rare sight. She also had a fire in her body, a fire he thought he could tame with time. He stretched his back and thought to himself maybe she was worth a look into. Meanwhile his pants seemed to get a bit uncomfortable whilst thinking of her. Dutch always loved a challenge and a feisty woman on top of that was very amusing and attractive to him. 

Joey’s pov.

Dammit, dammit and damn. How could they be here already? It just had to be them, of all the creatures and beasts in this world. It was maddening, yet there was nothing you could do about it. You had to go to that bank tomorrow, facing them again. Sure they had your name and face now, but they didn’t know how you worked and your way of thinking.

“Sigh, what a lousy way to start this so called adventure” Joey said to herself. Then there was a knock at the door.

“Yes?” Joey asked.

“Miss Joey, it's the lady from downstairs. I have your meal here, can I enter?” the lady asked shyly. 

“Sure, the door is open, enter” Joey answered back.

The lady entered your room, and placed the food on a little table that was placed near the bed.

“Thanks,” Joey said and walked up to the table. 

“I hope you like it, also I forgot to ask, when do you plan on checking out tomorrow, it’s just so I don’t disturb you.” the lady asked you.

“I think I will leave at around 10.00, if I’ve left before then feel free to rent out this room again” Joey answered back in a polite tone to the lady. 

“Alright miss, good evening” the lady said back politely and then left your room.

Joey then sat down at the table and started eating and started thinking and pondering about tomorrow. The note specifically placed you at that bank down the street. Maybe there was more to it then that, maybe you were to meet someone at that bank or see something? She had so many thoughts and questions about tomorrow. After eating her food she wandered the room and found a book, a book of anatomy from this era you were in at the moment. Laughing to herself, this was primitive at best in some areas, but she needed to calm her screaming mind. That book luckily had many pages to look through. 

After a few hours of that anatomy book she began to get tired, and Joey decided to shred a few last thoughts about the upcoming day. Joey looked at her holster and she noticed that she had no knife, which could be very useful. She started looking through her things quickly adding up that she needed a few items to last in this place, binoculars, a hunting knife, a tent, and a map also perhaps a few other clothes in case the weather gods wanted to punish you or if she had to hide her identity. After making up her mind you knew you had to acquire these items before the bank tomorrow, this would be easy though you had money and the general store was just across the street. 

Joey then decided to call it a night, she laid down on the bed, yet this feeling of a little dread and excitement slipped through her stomach. What would tomorrow bring she thought and closed her eyes, you fell asleep minutes after. 

What would that bank bring you tomorrow...only a few hours left to find out


	4. The bank of mystery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter! Feel to write what you think so far about the grumpy lady of the story!

Joey awoke with a fire in her body, excited and eager for today. She got up from the bed and looked outside, still a little dark, but no matter today would certainly be thrilling she thought to herself. She wandered down to the bar downstairs and looked at the clock on the wall, it was 07.30 a clock. She thought it was perfect, plenty of time to fix the items I need. Joey then went up to the owner of this bar and restaurant and started talking to him. 

“Morning mister, do you have the paper for today, and also could I order some breakfast for one?” Joey said politely to the man, you did not recognize him, maybe he was a different person from the game as everything about this place seems to be a mix of the past and future.

“We sure do ma’am but that will cost you a dollar and the breakfast is 2 dollars.” the man answered you back. 

“Alright, not a problem also those gentlemen who were here last night there were five of them, do they have rooms here or did they go to that bigger hotell down the street?” Joey asked the man she hoped to not bump into them again yet if she could help it. 

“Ah, those men left shortly after you went upstairs ma’am and I saw them take off with horses outside here, so I don’t think they stayed at any hotell here.” the man said back to you, he spoke the truth, she could see it.

“Alright then.” Joey answered back, she took her paper and food and sat at a table and started eating and reading. According to the paper it was indeed 1889 the news covered shortly about the big bank in town had just been finished just a few days ago, she looked at the date and she found out it was the 13:th of May. Interesting she thought.

After finishing her breakfast Joey went outside and looked for Bacchus, he was still there waiting for her. Bacchus saw her coming towards him and neighed at her.

“Hey buddy, I think we will have quite the day today” Joey said honestly to him she really had no idea what would happen today. She then started brushing him and generally fussing over him, she was lucky having found some basic horse care products on the other side of his saddlebag.

“There we go Bacchus you are ready for today.” Joey said to him she hugged him tenderly. A horse like this had cheered you up greatly. Bacchus seemed to enjoy all the affection as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the love you offered him. 

After fixing her horse she entered the General store across the street, a few meters from her horse.

The clerk noticed her right way, he had been looking into some catalogue.

“Morning ma’am, how can I assist you today?” he asked her whilst subtly looking down at her pants and frowning a little, pants and women are still mortal enemies in this time, funny if you think about it. 

“I just need a few items today and I’ll be off.” Joey said to the man the less he saw of you the better those eyes seemed to judge everything that moved, creepy.

Joey then approached the catalogue and picked out her items: a hunting knife, a binoculars, a tent, she also bought a bandolier because she had forgotten about it until she saw it in the catalogue. 

“Do you have clothes here too?” Joey asked the clerk hoping to buy all her items here and be done with it all. 

“We sure do ma’am, since 1 month back.” the clerk answered and he then handed her a different catalogue for clothes. 

“Just go to the room over there to your right.” the clerk said to her whilst pointing to the dressing room.

“Many thanks.” Joey said and started picking out her outfits. The outfits you choose for you are the following. For the cold she chose a long fur coat, pure black similar to the one Dutch had in Colter but longer, and to that she chose red and white cavalry gloves, the boots were simple black riding boots, to finish the outfit she got a black estate boss hat. For hot climate she purchased a black leather jacket same as the one Micah wore in his camp in Strawberry, to this outfit you bought two pair of everyday pants one black the other a dark navy blue, the rest you purchased for the outfit were black rifleman gloves and a pair of black deluxe relentless boots. 

Joey wanted to buy more items to deemed it unwise, it would seem suspicious if she bought too many items, it could raise questions and suspicion, attention in other words which you didn’t need now..at least yet.

“Will that be all for today ma’am?” the clerked asked you whilst ringing up all her items.

“Yes it will.” Joey answered the clerk back. 

“That will be 300 dollars ma’am” the clerk said to her.

Joey gave him 350 dollars.

“Keep the change.” she said to the clerk with a wink.

The clerk turned pink and accepted the money without a word.

Joey wandered quickly out of the store and packed her beloved Bacchus with all her items. Whilst changing clothes she had changed to her Legend of the east outfit but changed the red coat to the black leather coat she had just purchased from the store. 

“Alrighty then Bacchus, let’s move a little.” Joe said to the horse who followed her faithfully and calmly, whilst walking towards the bank you approached the train station and hitched your horse. Joey then looked at the clock 09.30 was the time. She looked around, checking her surroundings, nothing seemed out of the ordinary people were going about their daily business, horse carts and a few horses here and there moved around but not much else. She shrugged and started walking towards the bank just a couple of meters from the train station, Joey had purposely placed her horse there in case something should happen, since you were walking in there blind.

Joey entered the bank building, pushing the doors open. She looked inside and recognized everything, all the desks and the half wall with steel bars across the small gaps where you could talk to a clerk. 

“How can I help you today ma’am?.” a bank clerk said suddenly, frightening you slightly.

“Yes, I was looking to buy some land and I would like to see what you have available for now. Do you have a map I could look at?” Joey said in a sweet tone, she was lying, you were not interested in land you were just stalling for time. 

“Certainly ma’am, but I must say it’s quite unusual for a woman to go buying land alone without her husband.” the clerk answered , but of course you had to be married. The men still held all the cards in this time, but Joey knew this.

“Yes, but he is away, doing business you know, and I said that I would be looking not buying, my husband has the final word in all of this.” Joey said to the man with a sneer, he could only hope to put you down, the foolish man. 

“O-of course ma’am, here is a map, you are welcome to sit at the benches and look l through it , just return the map when you’re done ma’am.” the clerk said back nervously, he seemed taken a bit back, guess he didn't meet someone who bit back if annoyed, funny, Joey thought to herself. 

Joey wandered over to one of the few benches that were placed in the bank. She started looking at the map, it seemed that Beecher’s hope was still for sale, then there was some land a small plot on edge of town in Blackwater, then there was oddly enough som land right behind the bank available for sale, odd she thought to herself but paid little attention to it al. Before long you had lost track of the time whilst looking at the map. Then suddenly one woman barged in thru the doors clearly drunk and lost.

“Where is that slime shit of a man?I will kill him for sleeping with my sister!” the drunk woman shouted and wobbled around the room, looking at the room for said man.

“Please madam, take this business outside this is a bank not a bar.” a bank clerk said to the woman, this time another one from before.

“You don’t talk to me you frog!” the drunk woman shouted back at the bank clerk.

Joey lowered her gaze from the map and looked at the woman. She seemed awfully familiar, blond hair and a bit of a cleavage in her dress she wore and her acting skills were actually quite good. But you recognized her..

Karen Jones..

She seemed to be the same age as in the game, not younger, which meant that maybe not everyone was younger, Joey thought to herself. But before she could think another thought five men burst through the doors.

The Van der Linde gang was here, Joey recognized a few of them one was Dutch, another one was Sean and Micah, the other two you could not quite place, they all wore bandanas, so it was a little hard for you.

“Ladies and gentlemen this is a robbery, if you all give us your money peacefully no one will get shot unnecessarily!” Dutch shouted to the people in the bank. Micah and Sean ran around the bank and grabbed hostages quickly, the other two the men you did not recognize ran towards your direction. 

You had seconds to react..

Joey flew off the bench and you tried to run past the men but one of the men grabbed you by the neck and held you against his chest and aimed a gun at your cheek. Joey only got a quick glance at the masked man before he spun you around. He had blonde hair, you didn’t know how it was.

“Whoa there lady, we can’t have you running just yet!” he said in your ear, all whilst squeezing you a bit harder with his one free arm, she was stuck Joey was in a deathgrip.

Great, Joey thought to herself, her adventure was to be a hostage how thrilling. She tried to wriggle a bit out of the blonde man's deathgrip. But it was not working out so well for you.

Joey focused her attention one her situation and didn’t hear Dutch, Micah or Sean and the other unknown man barking orders and hitting people for their money. She had to be smart about this, she would probably only get one chance at this.

“Look what I caught Dutch, a feisty lady!” the man shouted behind you, at least he had fun she thought.

“Well would you look at that!” Dutch answered and saw you in the blonde man’s arms. He started walking towards you, probably smileing behind that stupid bandana he wore.

Joey took a shot at her freedom, raising her legs she stomped down at the blond man's foot, spurs furst digging into his boot, probably drawing blood.The man screamed and lost his death grip on your throat. You then slapped his arms away from you, Dutch seemed to move faster toward you. He was maybe 1 meter from you, that was not all, the other unknown man started running towards you and he did not look happy.

Joey acted in milliseconds and jumped clear out of the window behind you, when you entered the bank you knew that these windows were quite fragile. But it still hurt like hell doing that stunt, you cut your arms and your legs a bit, you were leaving a bloody trail after you.

“Go get her!” Dutch shouted probably to other gang members.

“Get back here lady, you will pay for what you did to my brother!” the other unknown man shouted after you.

Joey had no time to lose, she ran towards Bacchus a mere distance a little while ago when you weren’t dripping blood on the ground. Yet you tried to keep a fast pace as the angry unknown man moved in on you.

“This ain’t gonna end like you think lady!” he shouted behind you, he was very close.

Joey just reached her horse when the man got her right arm.

“Gotcha!” the man shouted in your ear.  
But before you could fight back he had smacked his gun at the back of your head, knocking you out cold.

Suddenly the world was black and Joey didn’t know what would happen to her..


	5. In the camp of doom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This writer had learned to write now, it's you and not any other way around, sorry about the grammar but hey, live and learn folks..

You woke up in a big tent, a cot to be more exact on a comfortable pillow and..you slowly raised your head and looked at your surroundings. You had a big coat covering your body, the tent itself was covered in fine materials and a big bear rug and books? Were you in Dutch’s tent? That damned pig, you thought to yourself, lifted off what you assumed to be his coat off your legs and saw that the wounds on your legs had been tended to and cleaned it actually didn’t look too bad now that it was fixed. Your arms looked fine as well. 

You then noticed that your arms could not move too much; they were bound but luckily in front of your body and not behind your back. Well this is convenient, Joey pondered to herself. 

You laid back in the cot and covered your body with Dutch’s coat again, you didn’t feel like talking to the gang yet, knowing pretty much everything about them already you had to be smart and careful with your words. If you proved to be smart or useful Dutch would find some reasons to keep you there and use your “gifts” to his advantage and you really wanted to be rid of him as quickly as possible. 

Lying back down in the cot you listened to your surroundings, had they noticed or started to suspect that you had woken up yet? It sounded like you were in a forest, there were birds chirping, the sound of trees moving in the wind creeking and moving with the winds as they blew past. Then there were voices in the camp you decided to pay attention to then whilst closing your eyes. 

“Has anyone checked the area here yet?” a man’s voice said sounding concerned. “If the law or some local bounty hunters has picked up our trail yet we need to move out soon Dutch” 

“Don’t worry too much son, that bank job went quick and clean, the law didn’t even know what hit them” Dutch said to the other man you just heard talking. “Well, almost perfect we just so happen to stumble into our feisty friend Joey, I had no idea she would be at the bank.” Dutch laughed.

“She still hasn't woken up yet boss?” the man's voice asked Dutch. “I guess my brother smacked her good, the witch deserved it! I tells ya boss, damn lady almost cut me foot off, could’ve killed me!” the man’s voice said.

Ahh Joey thought to herself, Dutch must be talking to that blond man, true you had smacked his foot with your spurs quite hard, but you only hit one foot, you thought to yourself. Surely that wouldn’t kill him.

“Relax son, the cut isn’t as bad as Miss Grimshaw told you, she tends to exaggerate now and then with you boys. She means well she is just trying to scare you boys straight.” Dutch answered the man. “I guess I should check in on our lady friend here soon.”

Wait, you thought to yourself, was he going in here? God no, couldn’t it be Micah or Hosea insead, anyone but him. But there was no time to think more of that, there was the sound of feet moving towards the tent, you opened your eyes, ready to give Dutch quite a tongue lashing, very well Dutch enter, Joey thought to herself. 

Then he entered looking at you with a smile, oh that man was going to get it now, damn pig!

“Ahh I see you have awakened miss, I hope you found my tent comptable enough for your liking.” Dutch said to you and walked up to the cot you were currently lying in and sitting down at the foot end. “I must say miss, it’s not often I see ladies jump through windows these days.” He said with a laugh, of course your attempt for freedom was amusing to that man. 

You raised your upper body from the cot and stared at him. “I guess guns to my face brings the worst out in me.” you said with a sneer at him. “I guess we're not too far from Blackwater.” you said to him.

Dutch moved where he was sitting a little uncomfortably..was he nervous? “Your power of observation still amazes me, miss, it’s quite clear that you are intelligent, but that still didn’t help you back there in Blackwater.” Dutch said proudly, he just had make you feel small. “May I ask what you were doing at the bank, miss?”

He just had to ask that Joey thought to herself. “Why ask when you know I won’t answer you.” you said to him, your word almost dropping with poison. 

Dutch face contoured angrily, then he suddenly grabbed one of legs and squeezed it a bit. “You know miss, this cheerful temper of yours won't help you, I will find out what I need from you the easy way or the hard way.” He said to you whilst saying it he squeezed your leg harder and harder, making his point quite clear with you.” Dutch then suddenly stood up and walked up to your face and threw his coat off your body and grabbed your arm. “I think it’s time for you to meet the rest of my gang, miss.” 

Dutch yanked you off the cot and dragged you out of his tent. Stepping outside you saw where you were, Tall trees, it had to be those pine trees that were the first thing you saw when you mysteriously arrived here. You then saw the gang they were all there in the flesh, you swallowed quickly, the things they could do to you were certainly unpleasant, but you could not let them get to you either. You held your head high, swallowing your fear away, this was not the time to show fear in front of at least not in front of 10 armed and dangerous men.  
“Look boys, our friend here has awakened as has decided to grace us with her company!” Dutch said cheerfully to the men, whilst dragging you towards them. “If you behave I might cut off these ropes.” He said whilst whispering in your ear.

There you were in front of men you knew all about, but they didn’t like you much..well at least not yet if you worked your charms right. Suddenly a tall man approached you; it was the man that chased you at the bank. Looking at him you saw he was quite the looker, he had brown hair and blue eyes, and they were a stunning ice blue tint in them. But his face was filled with one thing, rage and it was aimed directly as you, oh shit you thought to yourself.

“You and I need to ‘ave a talk missy, you nearly cut me brothers foot clean of ya did!” He said in a loud voice, he then yanked with clean off Dutch’s grip and you smacked your head straight into his chest. But you had figured out who this man was now, Mac Callender and he was not happy.

“Easy now Mac, save some of her for the rest of us!” A voice said, you turned your head to find it’s source, dammit it was Micah. What now you thought to yourself.

“Back of Bell, this missy here needs to learn her place!” He yelled back at Micah clearly not any calmer, you moved your head off his chest and looked at their conversation, this could not end well Joey thought to herself.

“There are other ways to make her pay for what she did to your brother, Callander.” Micah said whilst looking up and down your body. Great, a typical Micah courting ritual was taking place right in front of you, neat you thought to yourself. 

“This doesn’t concern you Bell!”

“Shure it doesn't boyo.”

That was all that needed to be said apparently, because before you knew it Mac had shoved you of him and wrestled Micah to the ground, straddling him and delivering quite a few blows to his face. You took this chance to move away, only to be grabbed again but now by Hosea, thank god a functional brain you thought to yourself a bit relieved that Mac had let go of you. 

“Easy now miss, we can’t have you wandering around just yet, you have to talk with Mac and Davey about what you did in Blackwater.” He said to you in the stern tone only he could make. Joey knew better than to mess with Hosea, his bite was much worse than his bark. 

“Fair enough” you answered him.”Call off your dogs and let’s get this over with.” You said to him Hosea answered your statement with a slight frown on his face. “Micah, Mac that’s enough, our guest is ready to talk with you Mac.” Hosea said to them, Micah limped away, and out of some corner of the camp a limping Davey approached you and he grabbed a hold of his brother's shoulder, they were both looking at you now. Waiting a few moments before one of the brothers decided to take the lead and started talking to you. 

“Well if it ain’t the lass that almost cut of me foot.” Davey said to you, of course it was him you recognized his blonde hair and his eyes, were they blue? You couldn’t see, you decided to stick with the conversation aimed at you instead. 

“Sorry I was aiming at your knee, my bad Davey may have aimed poorly” you said to him with a smile so fake it would make hell crack. 

This however didn’t seem to calm the brother down, but you heard Sean laughing in the background, was he cheering you on?

“Real funny lass, I know whatcha’ did, it was on purpose and ye aimed at me foot ya did!” Davey shouted back and Mac didn’t look pleased either. In fact if looks could kill, you would be dead now.

“Oi lass this ain’t funny, he could have bleed out!” Mac shouted at you.

“Exactly!” Davey joined his brother in a shouting contest aimed at you, how thrilling... 

“Well it ain’t my fault that the fine Van der Linde gang can’t protect their feet!” 

Then there was dead silence..oh crap what did you say that. They all stared at you mouth agape, except Dutch he just looked amused and smoked his cigar. 

“You knew who we were all along?” Hosea asked in a calm voice.

“Yes, I knew who you were when I saw you at the bar.” You told Hosea, you were telling the truth it was the only thing that could save you in this stand of.  
“Why didn’t you tell the law about us when you had a chance before we robbed the bank, we are wanted men after all.” Hosea asked you sternly, meanwhile all the camp's eyes were aimed at you, like a pack of hungry wolves, those eyes were just waiting for you to slip up. 

“I--i, I just didn’t, guess we share mutual hate for law, I won’t help them willingly” you said whilst looking down at the ground, it was partially true, but the real reason was because of him, Hosea, you cared for him like he was a father to you if you could spare him from any harm you would, even if the cost would certainly be high someday. 

“Well I be damned!” Dutch said in a booming voice, he walked up to you and clasped your shoulder, firmly but certainly friendlier then before. “ It would seem that Joey here might be more like us outlaws than we thought!” Dutch cheered, earning laughter and cheers, but they were aimed at you now. This was odd no one had ever cheered you on before...it felt nice if you were being honest to yourself. Maybe you had judged them to harsly, perhaps they were different in this timeline you were in. 

Dutch’s Pov

He almost dropped his cigar when she uttered those words. She had said that she wouldn't help the law willingly, your heart raced, this was so different from Annabel she would always scold him about the law trying to weigh him down, trying to make him a lawful citizen. She had no ambition that Annabel, she was just a pretty face chasing men with power. This girl though that you had met in the bar in Blackwater was more like you, wild, proud, feisty, and obviously searching for freedom, just like you.

You felt lightheaded, your heart raced, you have never felt like this towards any woman in your life.

Dutch composed himself, this woman would be your’s...she just didn’t know that yet...

He didn’t know that he was not the man Joey wanted...


	6. The ways of my mind and planning a robbery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's getting exciteing now folks! Also grammar error are like guaranted, as english is not my first language..=(

Two weeks later..

You had been with the gang for two interesting weeks now, and you had been observing them alot. When you first arrived here you had assumed that everyone would be 10 years younger, but oh how wrong you were. Then ones with the same age as the game in 1899 were all the girl’s but Susan she looked to be in her early 40’s as did Hosea but a little bit older, maybe 43 or something like that.

Sean, Lenny, Charles were the same in age as in 1899, as were Javier and Bill. Arthur was around 31 years old , Micah was around 34, John was around 25 maybe..You were not too sure and didn’t care too much about it, Micah and Arthur did seem to have a very strong bond now though, they were “brothers” but they still kicked and fussed at each other every now and then, usually pulling pranks and pestering John. Micah had apparently been with the gang for 3 years.

Abigail and John were not a couple and you were very happy about that too.  
You had always disliked Abigail in both games such a damn nag, she whined, judged at everything, but yet did nothing herself, it rubbed you the wrong way, thankfully Jack was not born in this world. You would often but heads with each other.  
But you were older than her, Joey was 28, and you were quite strong too. Sometimes you would vent your pent up anger at her giving her bruises and scratches, it hurt her of course, but it was nothing serious, you were just trying to push her away from John. He was a fool, true, but he did deserve better than her, much better.

The Callender boys were somewhere in their early thirties, still a bit sulky about you, but you didn’t blame them too much about that. 

Molly was not in a relationship with Dutch, but she did stare at him with her big doe eyes, she too was the same age as before.

The last on your observation list was Dutch, he only seemed a little younger now then before, he was probably around 38-39:ish but you despised him too much to care, him breathing in your direction made you snarl. 

But observations usually go to ways don’t it…

They had been watching you to..

Well Hosea had..

Apparently Autism was known in this world, much to your surprise and somewhat of relief. Hosea had approached you one day and flat out asked, he had noticed one of your peculiar quirks, which was shaking and cracking your neck a lot, like 20 or more times a day, and how you never looked anyone in the eye if you could avoid it. You told him yes and started to explain how you worked.

You described how it was for you, sound’s/smell’s/light’s could bother you everyday, sometimes there were good days and then there were bad days when everything overstimulated your already highly tuned senses. You had told him how hard it was with eye contact for you, it was one of the hardest things for you. Doing everything in your power to avoid it unless it was at the utmost need to look a person in the eye.It stressed you out a lot eye contact, and ever the wonderful Hosea understood and didn't force you to do something that was so hard for you.

You had also told him about your frustration with your communication, how it sounded perfect in your head yet when you were to say something, it fell flat out of your lips and sounded terrible, and that made you furious and angry. So you told him that your anger was usually pent up anger from your communication problems, and the anger the gang received from you was usually anger stimmed from that one frustration. 

But to your utter confusion, the gang was helping you..

Why? Joey often thought to herself..

They didn’t know you..why are they helping you?

But they did help..

Kind Mary-Beth and Tilly had asked you what made you relax, and you had shyly answered that you loved when people brushed your hair and braided it and generally played with it, putting you in a very calm, almost trance like state and you usually just layed down and stared out, relaxed with half opened eyes, barely awake, and just loved the moment. But if they accidentally yanked a hair wrong..

Oh boy..

You practically lunged at them in a snarl, you were VERY sensitive with your hair, a simple pull or yank wrong felt like someone had shot you. But luckily your snarl/lunge school, taught them that very quickly, only needing two lessons..Joey must be a born teacher she thought to herself with a little sinister laugh.

Then there was a second thing that calmed your anger quite a bit..

It was to hold you, but to place you down on their lap and wrap their arms around you, that made you feel safe, calm, and protected. Joey’s usual preferred lap of choice was Lenny/Sean/Hosea and to the camp’s utter confusion Micah’s lap, but he was usually trying to get frisky, but one or two firmly placed elbow punches usually deterred him from doing that. 

Joey could swear that steam was coming out from Dutch’s ears when you sat in one the boy’s lap to calm down. Served him right you usually thought. 

Then you had told them of your strengths, well you told Hosea. Your strengths were the powers of observation, the ability to spot and hear a lie from miles away. The power of smell, and the ability to hear and recognize who was walking around you, without the need to see them, the sound was in a way your eyes.

The ability to turn off your emotions was something that scared some people in the camp, but it didn’t bother you, this was something you’ve had your whole life. The last “power” you had was your uncanny ability to spot details around you every rock, leaf and footprint was a clue...and a book telling a story only you could see.

But all these powers came at a cost…

Energy

You got tired much faster than the others,and you had told Hosea and Lenny about this, luckily they understood.

Thank heavens for that Joey would often say to herself..

But it seemed that Autism in this world was very rare...but at least they knew that people were born with it, and didn’t think that someone who had it was cursed, or a freak or something worse.

Thank god for that..you thought…

You had awakened in your own tent this lovely morning, since you had screeched and threatened to geld Dutch if he climbed in the cot and tried to “warm himself” as that damn pig would say in a fake voice..ugh..

Just go away Dutch, you would often say to him in a tired yet angry voice.

Joey walked out of her small tent, it was the one you bought in Blackwater. It was a lovely day...it was warmer and beautifully green and lush around Tall Trees. A calm wind blew through Joey's hair, today you had your black boots on you, with your navy blue pants, and a black shirt you’d gotten from kind Tilly. 

The men were gathered around Dutch’s tent, talking and looking at the map. Maybe a robbery was being planned, Joey thought to herself. You were also planning yourself to.. getting away from Dutch.

You had been observing their patterns and weaknesses and you knew that you could easily slip away if you so choose to, but not yet, you had one problem.. 

Charles..

That man was a legend at tracking...if you slinked off now he would find you..then Dutch you probably tie you to his tent and never let you move around freely for god knows how long..

No..

You had to be smart about this. Gain some of their trust, then slink away and explore and find that adventure you craved. It could not be here with Dutch you were sure of it, and you wanted to get rid of him as fast as possible, you had sworn to yourself if he tried to charm and use that so called silver tongue of his on you one more time…

Ugh..

You would cut his heart out...with a spoon just to be a badass, you thought to yourself with a sly grin. 

You walked up to Dutch tent in a calm manner and started talking.

“Gentlemen, what are we planning today?” you asked them, whilst looking down at the map there were holdning.

“Ah miss Joey, just the person I was going to ask about this robbery, say are you interested in pulling your weight and contributing to the camp?” Dutch said while looking up from the map and looking at you. He just had to throw small punches and belittle you every now and then. 

“I’ve been ready to shoot someone here since day one, Dutch.” Joey answered with a sly smile aimed at him, he is never going to bring you down you thought to yourself. 

“Not this again, Joey,what is it whitcu’ to, you are always ready to maul each other” Arthur said whilst pinching his nose, at least he knew that you couldn’t stand Dutch. He moved and stood beside you, whilst putting his arm on your shoulder, to calm you down a bit.”Behave yourself Silver” he said in a quiet voice.

“Hmpf, very well, now what is it you need my help with?” You asked then whilst looking at Arthur.

“We are going to rob a particularly loaded stagecoach, full of cash, could be around 4000 dollars I’ve been told.” Dutch answered back whilst looking down at the map again. “We all know about your great powers of observation, Hosea has filled me in with the details, so what I want is you to have a look in this robbery and help us out.”

“Alright, when do we leave” you answered back eager to get going. 

“In about one hour, I would say” Dutch said whilst grabbing some items on a table near him.

“Details?” You asked quickly..

“8 guards, armoured stagecoach, should be pulled by 6 horses, and eight paid bounty hunters to protect it, and it’s near Strawberry.” Micah said back as he walked in near Dutch. 

Joey took a few minutes to think whilst the men started talking amongst themselves again. In the game they had always been sloppy with stagecoach robberies, you had a much more effective plan to stop a coach. It was a bit brutal but extremely accurate. 

“I know a way, different from what you normally do, but I need a rifle and some explosive ammo, my way is quicker and it will split the coach up from the bounty hunters, and they won’t be able to protect the coach, guaranteed.” You said to the men in a confident tone, the gang had seen your gunskills during these two weeks at camp so they knew that you were a deadly shot, and it made Micah sulk a little bit, which you found absolutely hilarious. 

“Oh, what is that Silver?” Micah said in a slightly irritated tone he usually loved doing it his way, gun blazing and hoping for the best, predictable and dangerous by your standards. 

“Go on tell us chica”

“Ayy go on’ tell us what’cu are thinking about”

“Oh great what is she going to do with that ammo, shoot us all or an elephant?”

“Hold on Silver, I got what you need.” Arthur said whilst looking at his tent. He looked curiously at you, as did the rest of the men in the group. “Why do you need a rifle that strong anyway?” He asked back quickly.

“Oh I will show you when we get there.” Joey answered back with a smile. “I will tell you when we get there, I need to see the path the coach takes. I only need 10 minutes.” You answered back to the group.

“Very well, men and miss Joey, let’s mount up.” Dutch shouted at the group happily whilst looking at you with a curious smile, he did seem genuinely curious about your plan. 

You and then men walked over to your horses, Joey quickly gave Bacchus a pat. “Let’s show these fools what we got Bacchus” you said to him, whispering in his ear.

The gang then rode out of Tall Trees, into the spot they had planned for the robbery, near Strawberry, ironically the same place where Arthur and Micah were at when they robbed a coach together. 

“Alright then miss Silver, here is the spot, now show us what you had in mind.”

The gang of men then looked at you curious as to what you were to say.

If they only knew what was going on in your mind..

Oh if only they knew..Joey thought to herself..


	7. Robbing a coach and seeing somebody I used to know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you start singing the song in the comments below you are a LEGEND, also grammar erros are a promise...*sob* Also LONG chapter...

“So here's the plan, I need your best guns which are Arthur and Micah to be placed so that they can aim directly in front of the coach, you two will shoot the two front horses dead. The rest of you will hide in the trees and wait for them to shoot, while I make sure to split them apart and make them scatter.” Joey said in a calm tone to the whole gang. 

“What will you do that will split them apart then?” Dutch asked you whilst putting The Count closer to your horse.

“Ah yes, that’s why I got this fancy rifle here for, you see, explosive ammo is very effective against mutch. I will shoot the two back wheels of the coach and combined with two dead horses in front, it will stop the coach dead in its tracks in a matter of seconds. Then the rest of you will pick them off, one by one.” you said with a confident face, whilst moving your horse away from The Count, not to close you pig, you thought to yourself.

The men just stared at you for a few moments, dead silent until a few of them decided to speak up.

“That has to be the most effective plan I’ve heard of” Sean whilst staring at you.

“Dios mio, chicha, that is brutal, but I give you credit that is very effective.” Javier said with a sly smile, at least he was willing to go through with your plan. 

The rest of the men which were John, Arthur, Micah and Dutch just looked down in their saddles defeated, did you say something wrong, you wondered. Until Dutch started talking again.

“That has to be one of the most brutal yet effective plans, I've heard Miss Silver, very well let’s do it your way, but we still have about thirty minutes to kill before the coach arrives.” Dutch said whilst looking at the men. “How can you think of this plan so quickly?” 

“The power of obeservation” you awnsered, but also playing the game Joey thought to herself with a grin, ha, take that Dutch I just made you look real stupid. 

Whilst you were waiting on the coach you decided to ask Dutch three questions you had to know the answer to, you could not figure out a plan without these crucial details. 

“So Dutch I have three questions for you while we’re waiting here, it will only take a few minutes of your time.” Joey said whilst looking into the forest observing her surroundings for anything suspicious. 

“Ask away miss Silver.”  
“Alright, what is the pinkerton situation in the counties?” You asked in a serious tone, this was something you were dying to know.

“They're all gone since two months ago, they went after the Murphy brood one month ago, killing the brood of, but also almost wiping themselves out in the progress, then one month ago they went after The Skinner brothers, they got them all of course, but they killed nearly all of the pinkertons, maybe five or ten survived.” Dtch said whilst looking at the road ahead.

“I see, well on to the next one then, who are running the O’Driscolls?” You asked whilst curious on what Dutch’s reaction would be on your question.

Dutch seemed to freeze and the question, but closed his eyes and after one long breath he answered ”They are led by a pair of brothers called Murdoch and Colm O’Driscoll, Mudoch is the oldest of them, Colm is around 34 I believe, Murdoch is 38.”

“What do they look like?”

“Well, Murdoch has very dark brown hair almost black that’s to his shoulders, along with a pencil moustache and a goatee, he also has a scar on his right eye, from just above his eyebrow to the middle of his nose. Colm has mouse brown hair, and some scruffy beard and a mustache and a few scars on his face.” Dutch answered you with a sigh.” Why do you ask, you should never approach these men, the things they do to people is nothing short of sadism.” Dutch said in a serious stern tone to Joey. 

“Just curious” Joey said in a fake and innocent tone, this was getting interesting, so Colm’s brother was alive now? How very interesting..

“What was your final question, Joey?” Dutch said in a quiet tone looking at the ground near you.

“Where did you get the information on this coach, Dutch.” Joey in the most serious tone you could muster.

“I got it from a bar in Valentine a month ago, he was drunk and held a grudge of the people that are moving this coach.” Dutch answered and looked up from the ground and looked at you, slightly raising one of his eyebrows as he was trying to figure out what the point of the questions was. 

Oh my god you thought to yourself did this man never think before planning? If he heard it then others could’ve heard it too...ugh now you had to explain it to that pig, you sighed inwardly..

Why me?

“You are a fool Dutch!” Joey shouted at him angrily, whilst gaining the full attention of the group. 

“Explain why I am miss” Dutch hissed angrily at you, oh how he hated to be called a fool. 

“A drunk fool with a grudge will talk and whine at everything that moves, if you heard it so did others. Which means that maybe an O’Driscoll heard it too, which means that we have to watch out for that now as well.” You said in an angry voice back at Dutch, practically laced with all the hate you already had for the man. 

The whole group fell silent, as they seemed to think about what you just said. Some looked like they didn’t believe you, others looked like they believed you and were starting to get nervous. 

“I-i, I must admit I didn't think about that Joey” Dutch managed to squeak out from himself, whilst looking down at the ground. 

Ohh sweet victory, you just sassed Dutch and made him look stupid in front of his men. Joey thought with a glee.

“Well just watch out for attacks when we hit the coach, I do believe it’s about to arrive now, so we have no time left to waste, we should get into positions now.” You said in a calm voice to the gang, there was no time left to insult each other.

A least not now..

“She’s right Dutch, we need to focus on the stagecoach now and be ready for surprise attacks.” Javier answered quickly after you had said your piece. 

The gang all nodded and rode into their positions. They were ready, willing and able. You had never robbed anything in your life, but you rode to your position, just behind a rock near a tree just at the rode where the coach would arrive. 

Five minutes later..

The stagecoach had arrived armed to the teeth, and those bounty hunters looked like the spawn of satan themselves. But there was no time to think of that now, you took aim aimed at the back wheels of the stagecoach.

3..

2..

1.

BOOOM

You shoot at the back wheels of the coach shooting them clean off, only a few seconds apart, since it was quite a broad coach. Then there were two more shots above you: it was Arthur and Micah, they had shot the two front horses dead, forcing the coach to a hard stop since it only had two wheels left. 

“What the?”

“It’s a trap”

“Protect the coach!”

The bounty hunters shouted at each other, there was barely any time left for them to speak, because just then Sean, Dutch and Javier burst out of the trees quickly finishing them all off in a matter of minutes.

In a matter of moments the road fell silent again..

“And that gentlemen is why just ask me for suggestions!” You yelled at them with a smile. This was exciting, your body was on fire, it was like there was a tiger under your skin ready to burst out of your body.. You had to admit this was fun, and you wanted to do this again, but never with Dutch again you were utterly fed up with that damn man. 

“Ay, that was the quickest coach robbery we’ve ever done!” Javier yelled with a glee.

“Way to go lass, where ha ya been all our lives!” Sean said a wink.

The rest of the group arrived at the coach and started to grab the cash, but they gave you a nod and smile of approval, their way of saying good work. At least that’s what you thought it meant, Joey didn’t speak outlaw fluently, yet. 

But, as the men were counting and plundering the coach and looting the bodies of the dead bounty hunters, you thought you saw something green moving in the distance of the trees.

O’Driscolls…

“We got company boys, get your guns up!” Joey yelled at them, the gang reacted in seconds and moved into cover behind the tees as did you. Mere seconds after you yelled the warning there came a swarm of O'Driscolls out of the trees, there had to be twenty of them, at least. 

Joey had to switch your place from the hiding spot, it was too exposed so you ran to another tree a few meters ahead of you. But you heard footsteps approaching quickly behind you. So you reacted quickly and hit the O'Driscoll in the gut with the butt of the rifle, the man stumbled and fell into ground and dragged the other man that was with him and fell hard on the ground. 

Then it hit you, that face..you had seen it before

It was Kieran Duffy, still the same age as he was in 1899, and there was a young boy with him. They both looked up at you utterly terrified, you acted quickly and took both of their guns. Checking the area quickly to make sure no one was near, you approached the two terrified men with a neutral face. 

“Relax boys, I won’t kill you..just get up and get out of here quickly.” Joey said in a calm voice whilst making sure no one saw you talking to them. 

“Y-you won't shoot us?” Kiearan said utterly terrified, and looked at the younger boy next to him. 

“No, I won’t, but the others will, so go on, get up a get out of here fast before they spot us.” Joey answered back.

“Let’s go, Kieran before the rest of her gang kill’s us” the young boy said whilst quickly getting up on his feet, dragging Kieran up with him.

“W-why are you sparing us?”

“You are both young, and have a whole life in front of you, and I don’t like killing unnecessarily.” You answered them, but it was more to it then that, Kieran deserved a chance and you would give him one or several if need be, that boy was terribly unlucky, he deserved to live, and you couldn’t shoot the other young boy either he looked so young, maybe he was the same age as Lenny.  
They both looked quickly at you and then they looked at the way out from the shootout. “Go, there are other days left to dwell on this, but it’s not now, so run, get out of here!” You shouted at them, and pushed them forward.

“Thank you.” Kieran said as he ran away with the young boy into the forest, sparing a few glances back at you. 

Live, Kieran

Live..

And stay safe for now…

Meanwhile you reunited with the gang, as you rode hastily back to the camp, happy with the score but annoyed about the O’Driscoll ambush. They decided to have a little party in the evening to celebrate your first robbery with them. But your mind was not on the party, it was on your plan to get out, you were going to get out of Dutch damned gang. The party was just a plus in your book, the plan was to wait until all of them were drunk enough or asleep, then slip out, and go to the hideout you had planned out to stay in for a few days. 

The place you had chosen for your hideout was a small abandoned house near Thieves Landing. it was called The old Bacchus place, funny you thought, you named a horse after a good hideout. It was placed near the waterfall so it would be a little risk with security, as hearing people approach would be much harder, but it was a quick trip from the camp in Tall Trees. 

But you would miss some of them, Sean and Lenny, they were like your annoying little brothers, as you took them under your wing and always been kind to them. Then there was Hosea, maybe you would miss him the most. That man made you feel safe and home, and you had not properly thanked him for it. 

So Joey decided that the last night with the gang before slipping away would be with the persons she had grown fond of, so that you could look at this moment with a smile. 

The party had started, people were cheering and laughing around the campfire. You sighed to yourself and approached the fire determined to spend your last moments with them. 

“Alright, McGuire you know the drill, that lap is mine!” Joey said in a playful manner.

“But of course Joey, I was saving the winner's seat for the lady of the hour.” 

“Mhm, you was?” you said in a sly tone, before you snuggled up to his chest and draping his arms around your body, and then raising your right arm, holding his shirt as an anchor of security, as you had done many times before. 

“Ahh there it is, always afraid I’m gonna run off eh lass?” Sean said with a mischievous smile, you knew he was proud that you sat in his lap to calm yourself down. 

“Sch, genius is resting her brain here” you said sleepily as you closed your eyes. A few moments of rest before sneaking off would be good. 

“It tells ye boys, the McGuire charms can fell even the most feisty, even evil of lasses out there!” Sean shouted to the gang. The gang joined in on the laughter, many were praising you about your quick thinking at the stagecoach, others were talking about moving out tomorrow, deciding to move the camp near Strawberry. You perked up a little bit at hearing that, that could mean that they would be too busy packing and moving in morning to notice you’d slipped out of their fingers. 

Perfect 

Another Thing to work to my benefit

You had already prepped and packed Bacchus for your escape, whilst no one was watching, all you had to do was to get away. Shortly after that thought, your eyes began to feel heavy and you fell asleep against Seans chest whilst listening to his soothing heart.

A few hours later…

You stirred, you were in Dutch’s tent, you sneaked out of his tent by using one of the tent walls, and crawled under it. The whole camp was asleep, checking around you there was no one to stop you, finally it was time…

You quickly approached Bacchus and petted him, he still had all of your items on him, including your money, perfect, Joey thought to herself. 

Mounting up Bacchus in the moonlight you look at the stream and waded into it to cover your tracks so Charles could not track you. 

Joey looked at the camp quickly, sometimes the best decisions are the hardest to take..

Spurring Bacchus on in the stream, until you had reached a safe distance to not be heard, you kicked Bacchus into a fast canter, and bolted away from Dutch and the others, there is no doubt in your mind...

You are spreading your wings...

And flying away….

You bolted past the army camp near the river at the bottom of Tall Trees. 

Passing the river, you were now in New Austin, Joey ran towards her planned destination…as fast as Bacchus legs could carry her. 

You were free…

Now your journey could begin..


	8. Reflection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longest chapters yet! It's getting a bit bloody in this one, also I can't spell to save my life..
> 
> Also waffles...

Bacchus and you kept running from the river, taking the long way to The old Bacchus place, the shorter and faster route led right through Thieves landing, and you had this gut feeling that something was of in that place, but you would use your binoculars and scope out that place later today. 

20 minutes later…

Joey and Bacchus arrived at the small abandoned house, it was a beautiful place just by the waterfalls, but the worst place to get drunk at, one stumble you would get down in the river and shipped hastily of to you death, since the plunge was a mere 20 meters from the house, or more you could not determine the distance quite right. 

“Alright here we are” you dismounted Bacchus and gave him a treat for carrying you through the early morning at such a speed, he truly was a gift sent from above. “I think we should not unpack all our things yet buddy, in case something is amiss in the area..” Bacchus seemed to be a bit unsettled to, maybe he missed the other horses, or was it the waterfall? You didn’t know you were not the bloody horse whisperer you thought to yourself. 

Entering the small house it did indeed look abandoned, as it seemed like it had been for months. You only cleared the most essential things from your horse, you looked at a pocketwatch, you stole from Dutch, considering the time he stole from you it seemed fitting to steal it from him too, petty but fitting all things considering. It was barely two in the morning so you decided to catch up on some sleep.

Later that day…

You woke up from your slumber a good few hours later, looking at the watch it was ten in the morning. Rising from the bed, you walked out to your saddlebags and fixed you some breakfast and started thinking about what your plan was now. 

There was a slight chance that Charles or maybe Arthur or anyone else of the better trackers at camp still might have picked up your trail. But that was a risk you had to take, Joey had been careful wading through water nearly the entire trip except through the last part, and by the swamps on the other side of the hill, but surely there would be other travellers to cover your tracks? You remembered this to be quite a busy road from the games. 

Then there was the other problem that had been nagging in your mind for one week.

Protection..

You were no engineer, or some bloody designer, but you had been sketching up a design that you were that you could build.

It was to use some chainmail or similar to that, and make a body armor that would protect your chest and shoulders, covering most vital organs and blood vessels.To hold it together you would get some leather straps and ensemble the whole beast together and get a kind of body armor, better to be safe than sorry, Joey thought to herself. 

But where to get the metal?

But you had already figured out that too, you would sneak into Thieves Landing at night at that big fenced yard by that big warehouse by the river, in the games there was plenty of metal and weapons in that yard, supplies and weapons would help you. After that you could maybe hang back a few days before deciding your next move, you pondered to yourself. 

So all you had to do now was to wait…

But how would you get there?

Well, since all you do is think these days, you started sewing straps to a big satchel you’d stolen from the camp, to make a primitive backpack, then you had found an axe in the cabin, a bit dull but perfect for bending boards and breaking in. You already had a lasso so you would bring that to.

To get there you would go on foot, since the horse would make too much noise, and Joey had to be very stealthy on this risky mission. 

So now you had to scope out the place first before going in at night with no light.

“Alrighty then Bacchus, you stay here and be quiet and I’ll check a thing out, don’t you worry boy, I’ll be back soon.” You said to your horse whilst hugging him..Bacchus snorted back at you and continued on with his grazing.”Be careful about the river now boy!” You said in a stern voice to him.

“Snort” he answered and flicked his tail as a reply back.

“Yeah, yeah, excuse me for being a bit paranoid and careful.” Joey laughed back, that horse had a weird sense of humor just like you.

And so you wandered, walked, climbed and almost fell five times on the way to Thieves Landing…it took you about twenty minutes.

When you were near Thieves Landing you found a very discreet hiding place near the entrance but to the right up on a hill in some bushes. 

There were noises and tons of people in hies Landing but you could not see them so clearly, since you were quite a distance from them.

You took up your binoculars from your satchel and started looking at the fenced in yard. “Alright then let’s see what we got” you whispered to yourself. 

Thank the heavens that you didn’t take the way through the town last night..

The town was full of O’Driscolls, there had to be at least sixty if not more of them. But they didn’t look like they did in 1899, no these were good outlaws, deadly shots, and they didn’t look too friendly by your standards. Joey continued to look through the town, it looked also similar to what it did in the first game when it was built, but there were a lot more outlaws now...The town was green head to toe. 

They you saw them..

The leaders of the gang..

Murdoch and Colm O’Driscoll..

Murdoch was actually quite handsome, he reminded you of D’Artagnan from the movie the man in the iron mask with his hair and facial hair, but he had that big ole’ scar along the right side of his face. It suited him though with his dark brown almost black hair. Colm on the other hand looked actually quite handsome too, with his mouse brown hair color, but luckily his nose was straight now. Good, you thought to yourself, now the poor man can breathe. 

They were talking to..someone..and looking quite interested to..

Who were they talking to? There was no way to see yet, the stranger had his back to you..

But you wanted to know who it was, so you waited…

And waited..

Then finally ten long minutes later, the stranger turned...it was Kieran..but his bosses looked happy, but they failed with the score by Strawberry, shouldn't they be mad or something? But no, the brothers seemed happy and walked away towards a building near the other side of town..

Hmm, something is up, you thought to yourself...but deciding you had wasted enough time on that conversation, you looked to the yard and found a way into the yard, on the back the side closest to the river there was a decent sized hole, not too big but you could make it bigger with your axe. There were also alot of guns and other weapons you couldn’t recognize in the yard, but they could prove useful too. There was also most of the other material you needed to, score!, you thought to yourself. There was also a staircase outside right next to the building and under it was a large crate with a tarp covering it, perfect if you needed to hide, since the tarp was big and covering a lot of ground.

You then placed your binoculars back in your satchel and started moving back to your hideout..

Joey had a plan, and it was a good one…

Arriving back at your hideout, you knew what you had to do tonight, but you were torn about staying here, knowing there was an army of O'Driscolls just around the corner, with their bosses there too, they could find you in minutes if you made a mistake.

Maybe you could sneak around and find out some information when you were hitting that yard tonight? Joey shivered about the thought…

All you had to do was to wait until near midnight then sneak in, steal all the items you needed, and see if you could hear anything there during your night robbery. 

So you waited…

A few minutes before midnight..

It was time…

You changed your clothes to your navy pants, and took a black shirt on, and your black rifleman gloves. Equipping the backpack, lasso, and your axe you started crouching towards Thieves landing..

It took you a little while longer when you were crouching, about 30 minutes.

Joey slithered through the shadows, and approached the hole in the fence, the wooden fence, which was rotten in by the hole you found.

Perfect!

This would be easy to pry open quietly, you thought to yourself.

And it was, actually. Placing your axe you removed the few nails that were placed near the hole, then you quietly pulled off the boards. It was still a bit of a squeeze, but it had to do. 

Crouching in your newly made hole, you scoped the yard, it was almost mpy, except for a few sleepy guards near the big entrance door to the yard.

Good…

They would never know what hit them..

You approached the crates, slowly and as quietly as you could, thank god for the assassin's creed game, it had taught you quite a bit about stealth, you thought to yourself. 

The first crate, near the hole were you crawled in had dynamite, a lot of it in fact. You took 30 of them and placed them in your backpack, there were many uses for the dynamite, you thought to yourself. 

The second crate a few meters near the guard had some chainmail metal, well it was not quite chainmail, but it was very similar to it, you took a big chunk of it and hurried away, since the guards started moving in your direction, and there was a light near them. So you had to hurry.

“Ayy lads did ya hear the news?” One of the O'Driscolls outside the wall shouted to the guards in the yard.

“What are ye saying?, wait boys, let’s open the door.” One of the guards yelled back to the man outside the wall.

Shit..

You had to hide…

Quickly you made a sprint towards the stairs right by the crate, you hid under the tarp, the loud noise the door made whilst opening covered the sounds you made.

A few adjustments later and you were completely hidden under the tarp. You looked to the wall behind you and found a small hole to look through. 

But the men started shouting again and decided to listen in on them since you were so well hidden under the tarp.

“Bring the greaser in!”

“We caught ourself one of Dutch’s lap dogs!” 

Greaser? Oh no..

The had Javier..

What was he doing here?

“Get Murdoch, I think he wants to talk with this lil’ greaser!”

The man laughed and started shouting around the whole town, you couldn't see, so you waited for their next move..

“Where do you want him boss?” a man shouted close to you, he had to be in the building right next to you.

“Put him in the yard's storage house.” a man said calmly back.

Who was answering? you thought, this voice was not one you were familiar with..Turning around you started looking through the hole behind you, since they were going to be in the building.

There was the sound of someone being dragged…

And thrown down to the floor, then the sound of chains being moved, someone was stringing Javier up to a pilar maybe?

Looking through the whole, you saw that what you heard was indeed what happened. Javier was chained to a pillar right next to your little peephole to the right. He had no clothes on from the waist up, and he looked a little bruised in the face, with only a little blood on him.

Then a dark haired man with a big scar entered...it was Murdoch and he looked pleased..and he had a grin on his face that made your blood run cold, this was not someone you wanted to cross you thought to yourself.

“Hello lil’ greaser, I do so love finding people near the swamp of our fine town” Murdoch said with a sneer to Javier, and pulled out a knife from his holster and started playing with it. “Tell me what brings you here?”

Javier spat next to his foot.”Nothing that concerns you, hijo de puta!” Javier yelled back.

Murdoch approached Javier seemingly unfazed with his insults.”Are you lost little greaser?, your country is on the other side of the river, maybe I should toss you in it?” He answered and started cutting Javier's shoulder lightly but still enough to draw blood.

Javier flinched but he didn’t say a word to Murdoch.

“I think you are looking for someone lil’ greaser, ain’t that so?” Murdoch said whilst starting to cut into Javier’s flesh a bit harder but near the stomach, this time it was really bleeding.

Javier flinched a little now and moaned a little at the pain.

“No, I think I know who you are looking for..it’s a certain girl ain’t it?” Murdoch said to Javier in a low voice whilst cutting even harder into Javier’s stomach. This time Javier screamed. 

“Duffy!” the men shouted behind Murdoch..The Kieran ran in quickly and approached Murdoch.

“Y-yes boss?” Kieran answered quickly.

“Who was the girl that spared you and the stable boy near Strawberry?” Murdoch asked Kieran whilst still maintaining eye contact with Javier.

“S-she was the same that we saw in Blackwater boss, the one Dutch had on the back of his horse, sir.” Kieran answered.

Wait, did the O'Driscolls know about you already? 

Shit, you thought to yourself, and continued looking.

“Tell me why did she spare you 2 boys, what did she say?” Murdoch asked whilst starting to really cut into Javier’s stomach, making him scream loudly at the pain.

“S-she said that we were to young, and told us to run away, sir.” Kieran answered whilst rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “But we followed them sir and found their camp up in Tall Trees, and I saw her crossing the river last night alone.” Kieran said a bit more confidently to Murdoch.

“Well ain’t that fine, I know you are looking for her, now why is it that good ole’ Dutch wants her back? Murdoch asked Javier whilst slashing his shoulders apart, the blood was pouring onto the floor and Javier screamed..

And screamed..

Until...he started talking..

“H-h-He wants her back because she’s smart..” Javier answered in a quiet voice his head slumped to his chest, he was covered in blood by now.

“Smart how?” Murdoch asked as he buried his knife completely into his shoulder, making him scream very loudly. 

“S-she thought up the stagecoach robbery in less than 10 minutes.” Javier almost whispered back to Murdoch he was getting weak from the bloodloss. 

“Kieran!”

“Y-yes, sir?”

“What was so special about the stagecoach score, you were hiding in the trees with the boys, so you saw all that happened, yes?” Murdoch asked Kieran whilst pulling out his knife from Javier’s shoulder and started cutting at the other shoulder.

“I saw her talking to Dutch, and ordering his gang about something on where they should stand and do. Then when the coach arrived she shot off the two back wheels clean of the coach, someone else shot the 2 front horses dead on the spot, then the rest of the gang came out of the trees and killed the escort in less than 5 minutes, boss.” Kieran answered back whilst fidgeting in his place, he was clearly terrified of Murdoch. 

“How very clever, and you sure she did all that, Kieran?” Murdoch asked.  
“Yes. sir”

“Well then greaser you will tell us all about her, Seamus, Brian, show this lil’ greaser our famous hospitality, make sure he talks and tells us all we want to know.” Murdoch said to all the boys in the building, whilst releasing Javier from the pillar.

They then dragged out a bloody, weak and pale Javier from the building. 

Javier was going to die, you were sure of it, and even if you wanted to save him there was no chance for you..

There were too many of them.... 

You quickly stopped looking at the conversation, and quickly bolted to your hole, luckily there was still no one near it.

Shit..

Shit…

Javier had almost found you, he was just around the hill. You sneaked as long as you had too, in order to avoid detection, towards your camp.

You had to go, right now.

The O'Driscolls had seen you in Blackwater..

Dutch must’ve stolen a score of them, then you helped then at that coach robbery..

They were now hunting you too…

You now had 2 gangs or your back..

Shit..

15 minutes later after you escaped Thieves Landing you grabbed all your gear, and the items you took from the yard.

“We have to go boy!” Joey shouted to Bacchus, you were utterly terrified, if that Murdoch got his bloody hands on you..ugh you were too afraid to think about it...your body shivered at the thought.

Bacchus neighed back, he seemed to understand the urgency, clever boy he was. 

You packed Bacchus with all your items and gear so fast that it had to be a new world record.

You mounted Bacchus and rode into the night, deciding to take the long road by the river towards Armadillo. Dutch seemed to want you back, and now you had the O'Driscolls on your heels too, ugh…

Why me?

You spurred Bacchus towards Armadillo, you hoped to reach it before daylight..

You were now hunted...


	9. Good plans, poor results

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Joey just can't seem to get a break, as usual some grammar fails are likely here, also what do you think of the story so far? Also longer chapter..

Running through the night along the river you just couldn't stop thinking about how beautiful it really was here. The trees, plants, everything really was breathtaking. The wind whipped in your face as you spurred Bacchus towards Armadillo.

As the sun began to rise you reached Armadillo.

But it wasn't the Armadillo you would recognize, the town was now huge, it spread from the chapel, which now had a big church and an equally big graveyard to almost the hanging tree. The town was so very different, it had a big trainstation almost as big as the one in Saint Denis. There were new big buildings now filling the only road that used to be there.

The town had 2 big stables, and tons of horses and livestock, the town also had a big sheriff building at least 2 stories high. Next to the sheriff building there was a big general store that also sold weapons. 

Where the old worn out saloon stood before there was now a huge saloon in its place, it looked very fancy. 

Where Herbert Moon, the weirdest racist there ever was, had his store there now stood a new building a hotel, 2 stories high and it looked fancy to, there was a smaller hotel next to the train station too. 

The first stable was behind the big saloon, the other was placed at the outskirts of town near the chapel, which was now a church, near the where road split before.

You rode into the town, and just stared, it was so different, the main was split into several directions left and right. Both directions were filled with buildings. The only hotel in town seemed to be the big 2 story building you saw. 

Deciding that you deserved a well earned rest after your hectic 2 days you’ve had you steered Bacchus towards the hotel. 

Hitching Bacchus to the fancy hotell, you noticed that the hitching post was as beautiful as the hotell, it had 2 little horse heads at the end of the pole. You traced your hand along one horse head, it really was so different here now. Armadillo wasn't a doomed town anymore, there were no diseases there anymore, it was full of life and money.

It warmed your heart to see Armadillo so full of life, finally getting a break that it had been denied in both games. 

You unloaded Bacchus, and took your saddlebags and all your essential items you need to build your primitive body armour. Praying it would be possible..  
Grabbing all your items you entered the hotel, you were absolutely shocked at the inside, it looked so fancy, beautiful sofas, curtains in red, wallpapers with beautiful victorian details, wooden mahogany floor. There was a medium sized lobby with tiny statues of horses at each end, to the left of the lobby there were washing rooms, several of them, maybe 3 or 4 or them. 

Shifting in your step as you carried quite a bit of items you approached the desk where a small and stern little woman stood looking in some books, she looked like Miss Grimshaw, but maybe a little older.

“Good morning' ma’am, do you have any rooms available?” you asked the older woman lately, it was best to be polite to the older lady, she looked like she could break you in half with her stern look.

“Good morning’ miss, yes we just so happen to have several rooms available, just write your name in the book and I’ll get you a room, miss.” 

“Appreciate it” you answered and took the book and wrote in a fake name in the book, you were now Miss Anna Smith.

“Alright Miss Smith, your room is upstairs, 2 doors to the right, number 7.” The older woman answered whilst looking in the book, and making a slight frown at your pants. Pants are still frowned upon on ladies. 

“Thank you ma'am.” you answered the older woman, ignoring the woman's glare at your pants. There were other things to do then putting people in place.

You walked past the lobby and walked to the right and then back the stairs were placed right behind the lobby, so had to walk a little U to get to the stairs. Climbing up the stairs you saw that were at least 10 other rooms, this was big.Then approached your door and opened it.

Wow..

It was a fancy room indeed it looked almost identical to the room you could rent in Saint Denis, in both size and style. This would do well indeed, Joey thought to herself.

You then placed all your items and belongings at the bed, and pulled up the watch you stole from Dutch to check the time, it was 8 a clock in the morning, still early. You weren’t tired nor hungry, Murdoch woke you up plenty in Thieves Landing with his poisonous words. You were still a bit worried that they would pick up your trail, since you hadn't been that stealty when you rode to this town at night. 

Sigh..I hope I can get a few days rest, you thought to yourself running your hand along the sides of your head, fed up at being followed.

Why couldn't they leave you alone? Surely there were other people to torment and rob? 

Pushing the thought away, you placed your watch at the bedside table, and pulled up the chainmail looking iten you stole from the yard in Thieves Landing and took your backpack you’d made. It was the leather straps you were after, you had several in your big pile.

So you took all the items you needed, thread and needle included. There was a sofa right next to the bed, at the foot end along the wall opposite where you stood. 

You carried all your items to the sofa and started working on your body armor. Hoping you could make something with the items you had. 

So there you sat and worked for hours, struggling at times, then making progress, then back to a problem. 

But you did it, it was a tad ugly and a bit to heavy, but you could strap in down to your upper body using the leather straps, your shoulder were now protected and your torso to, but the sides were still a bit exposed with only a few centimeters, but it would have to do for now. 

“Crap, what’s the time?” you asked yourself, maybe a bit too loudly. You stood up from the sofa and walked to the bedside table and checked the watch, it was now 12 a clock. “Times do fly by sometimes” you mumble to yourself. 

You had to eat, since your stomach was starting to protest, and you had to wash you couldn't go around Armadillo smelling like a pig. Maybe you could eat at the hotel? 

You took up your key, and satchel with money, and excited your room going down the stairs. It would be best to wash first, then eat, you concluded to yourself. Walking down the stairs you saw that that was now a little old man behind the desk. 

Maybe the older woman's husband?

“Hello there sir, could I get a bath please?” you asked the man politely.

“Ahh of course, we just got one ready, just to your left here first door ma’am, which room are you staying in, Miss?” The older man asked, pen in hand ready to write it down.

“I am in number 7, and thanks for the help” you answered the old man and walked up to your washing room, where you quickly undressed yourself and sat down in the bathtub.

It was a plain little room, but had green wallpapers, and a nice bathtub, with lion feet at the end of each leg of the bathtub. 

You started washing yourself, scrubbing and pulling off all the dirt of your body. After cleaning yourself up, you leaned back in the bathtub and rested for a while. 

Joey was tired...but your mind was angry and wouldn't stop bothering you, all the stress from the last few days were making you sloppy and more prone to make mistakes, but you needed to relax..

You craved rest..like you’d never done before. 

But now there was no one to calm your frail nerves. There was no Sean, Lenny or Hosea or even Micah to hold you down and calm you.

You were alone…

“But you had always been alone, haven't you?” a voice whispered in your head, slithering in your mind like a snake..

“He would just take everything from you, just like he did with Arthur, then cast you aside” another voice whispered in your head.

“You’re gonna die here”

“Should never have left, little fool!”

“They will find you”

“Get out of my head” you whispered to yourself, closing your eyes,and shaking your head, cracking your neck in the process, just to get some frustration out from your system.

Were the voices right, or were you losing it? You did not know, but you had to keep going, you excited the tub and got dressed, and walked to the lobby.  
“How can I help you ma'am?” the old man asked politely.

“Could I get today’s dinner served to my room?” Joey asked the man politely but tired.  
“Certainly ma’am, it should be delivered in a few minutes, Miss Smith” the old man asked.

He called you by your fake name, good maybe you could relax a little now, since it didn’t seem like someone was asking around after you.

Yet…

“Alright, you know the number it’s 7” you answered tiredly, it seemed that all your energy suddenly had been drained from your body right now. 

“Yes, ehm, ma’am are you alright, you look a little pale?” the older man asked, sounding genuinely worried about your wellbeing. 

“Just a lot on my mind, mister” you answered, it wasn't that far from the truth, but you were just so tired. 

“Ok ma’am don’t mean nothing by it, but maybe you should rest in your room?” The older man said.

“Don’t worry, I was planning on going there now anyway.” You answered and started walking towards your room.

You climbed the stairs slowly, and opened your door and sat down on the sofa.

Maybe the old man was right, you needed to rest, or you would fall apart. Every sound already sounded like a knife being dragged across a dinner plate, putting you on edge, denying you rest. Luckily there wasn't too much smell or light here to annoy you, which gave you some comfort.

You were so lost in thought that you didn’t notice how much time had passed.

Until you were startled out of your thoughts by a loud knock at the door. 

“Got your food here, Miss Smith” a voice said. “Can I come in?” the voice asked.

“One minute, let me open the door” you answered as you walked towards the door, opening it.

“Here’s your food ma’am” the voice turned out to be a young woman. She entered the room and placed it on the little table there was in the room. “A-are you alright ma’am you are pale as a ghost?” the young woman asked sounded a bit scared and worried.

“Just tired” you answered. Were you really that pale, you were starting to get worried, maybe you should have a look in a mirror.

“Maybe you’ll feel better once you get some food in your belly, Miss.” The young woman said politely, before she walked out of your room and closed the door.

You walked up to the mirror in the room which was right next to the window facing the street, but slightly covered by a long red curtain in front of it. 

Joey just stared at the reflection, this wasn't you..

You were as pale as a ghost, had big dark bags under each eye. The veins could be seen around your eyes, you did indeed look like a corpse.

“Shit” you sighed to yourself..

Your body was telling you to slow down, desperately, it was a final warning before a collapse. 

Walking to the table you took the food, and sat down on the sofa and started eating. Whilst eating you made your mind up. You had to rest, the risks be damned, or else you would collapse. 

So you rested..

3 days later….

You had been in your room and wandering the hotel for 3 days now. Resting and feeling better, well, you were still pale but you had your almost all your strength and spirits back.

There was no sign of he Dutch nor the O’Driscolls, perhaps you had finally gotten rid of them? Now that you were feeling better you had decided to move on, perhaps go and see Saint Denis orRhodes, or just explore the counties and see where the path would take you.

Luckily the old couple were indeed the owners of the hotel. They were absolutely adorable and got worried about your wellbeing since you were so weak and pale the past few days. They had placed Bacchus and the stable near the hotel, making sure he was taken care of. 

It warmed your cold heart to see genuine kindness. It was becoming so rare back home, where greed usually steered your heart..  
You had just checked out of the hotel,dressed in your favorite outfit: the Legend of the east, and you were walking towards the general store you’d seen a few days before. When you were lying and resting in your room these past few days an idea came to pass.

A sniper…

Why not get one? It would help with hunting and spotting danger from far away. So you decided to get one. 

You entered the big general store, it was a bit bigger than the one in Blackwater, it seemed to have more items for sale too. 

“How can I assist you today madam?” The man behind the counter asked, he sounded french. 

“Need a sniper with a good scope, and needs to be powerful too.” You answered the frenchman.

“My god, what does a little madam like you need with a big weapon like that for?” The Frenchman answered, seemingly choked, that a woman would need a gun. 

“It’s not for me it’s a present for, um a special friend” you lied, a bit stiffly. 

“Ah, I understand, the husband back home wanted a new gun for his birthday, I understand.” The frenchman said with a smile. You decided to play along, women buying guns are apparently married. Okay, whatever you thought to yourself.

“Yes, and it’s a secret, so don’t go around telling anyone if someone asks around for me.” You answered him, deciding to play this to your advantage a bit. 

“No,no, no, madam, I saw nothing,” He joked back, covering his eyes, and placed the weapon catalogue in front of you.

You studied the pages and found a good sniper for you, a multi shot sniper that could carry several bullets. It had a weird name starting on a C, but you didn’t quite remember it. So picked up the rifle and trimmed it to the nines, this baby would need to be perfect. 

Whilst finishing up your business with the sniper you saw a beautiful necklace at the shelf behind the clerk, a simple silver chain necklace, but with a big tiger charm hanging in the middle, it had to be yours!

“Add that tiger necklace to my bill, and then I think that will be all for today” You told the clerk. 

“Ahh yes, quite the necklace ain’t it, many have seen that one, but it’s a little expensive madam.” The frenchman said whilst fixing up your sniper for you.

“Don’t matter, I’ll take it.” You answered back, determined to get that beautiful necklace, it was meant for you. 

“Very well madam, today totall will be 900 dollars.” The frenchman said to you whilst taking the necklace down from the shelf. 

You took the money from your satchel and placed it on the counter, then you placed the necklace on you. It was perfect, beautiful..Then you took your sniper and excited the store.

“Remember I wasn't here if someone asks” you said to the clerk with a smile.

“No, I saw nothing” The frenchman said whilst covering his eyes with his hands.

Good..

Now onto the next business for today..you knew that the sweet old couple at the hotel had given the stable manager all your items. So all you had to do was to pack up Bacchus and hit the trails.

Entering the stable, you saw your beautiful Bacchus.. 

“Hey buddy!” You said in a sweet tone, whilst hugging his head, you had missed him.

The stable manager knew who you were and handed all your items to you, it was hard to miss a very pale woman in the dessert after all. Tacking up Bacchus, you noticed that you were a bit hungry.

Why not eat at the saloon? There were no O’Driscolls or Van der Linde gang members around, so it had to be safe now, right? You thought to yourself. 

And if something happened you had your homemade body armor on, you were a god shot, and Bacchus was fast. 

It was decided, you’d eat the saloon then slink away and explore.You pulled out your watch and checked the time, it was almost 4 o clock, just past noon. 

You could camp in the wild for one night, wanting to try it, but maybe the tent was evil and would hit you in the face?

Bah! It would be fine, you had to try someday anyway. 

You lead Bacchus out of the stable, thanking the stablemanger on the way out for taking such good care of your dear Bacchus. Leading your horse out on the main road the town was full of people walking around, you only had to lead Bacchus a few meters since the bar was so close by.

There was that one thing you had noticed though, there were alot of law in Armadillo, a few US Marshals and some mean looking men, that had to be bounty hunters for sure. It would seem that losing the pinkertons made the local counties take up arms and defend themselves, not relying on the federals anymore. It was a bit interesting to see.

You approached the hitching post outside the huge saloon, and hitched Bacchus to the post.

Entering the saloon, there was a sea of people, but you managed to order food and get a seat near the back door of the saloon. After eating your food, you decided to check the map, since you were not too sure on what road to take.

You didn’t seem to notice how much that’d passed, since it was now suddenly dark in the saloon., and there was no light.

But it was a full moon outside, and it was huge, that could be your light, Joey thought to herself, on last check in the map then you’d be off.

You walked out of the saloon, taking Bacchus with you. Then you placed yourself towards the light, Bacchus was behind you facing the small alley behind you, the moon was behind you and you started checking the map for a short moment.

But there was some noise around you, but Bacchus didn’t seem to be bothered by it, so you ignored it too.

Then the noises got a bit louder, and it sounded like it was coming closer towards you. It was probably one of the many drunks at the bar, you’d seen a few of them crawling out.

Then a drunk man crawled out of the alley, swaying and singing to himself, before stumbling past you. It put your mind at ease, just a drunk.  
But you shouldn't have put your guard down..

Now there was the sound of more footsteps from many directions, and they had one thing in common, they were coming towards you.

Suddenly there was someone at your neck, wrestling you to the ground , whilst covering your eyes.

But you were utterly fed up with this..

Fight...you had to fight back, I will not go down like this…

Well not again..

You were loaded with adrenaline, you rolled off your attacker, and slashed his legs viciously with a back kick from your spurs.

Then men screamed bloody murder and lost his grip on you. Finally you could see again.

“Bloody hell, my leg!” the attacker screamed it was clearly a man. 

Quickly getting up on your feet you tried to get on your horse, but Bacchus was nowhere to be seen, so you had to run, maybe the saloon, or hide in the yard by the train station you thought to yourself. 

Joey managed to run a few meters past the alley, when suddenly another man tackled you off your feet, but this one wasn't alone.

No…

There were several men with this one..

The man shoved your face into the ground, whilst other hands were tying your legs, and grabbing your hands, tying them up, hogtying you in place, it happened in a matter of moments. There were too many of them.

Just as were trying to fight back, it suddenly went dark, knocking you out cold.

You were taken yet again, but you didn’t know by whom..


	10. Barcarolle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, warning for spelling errors as usual. Fun fact this chapter is named after one of my favorite operas...
> 
> And Colm finally makes an apperance!! Fluff comence!!

You didn’t know who kidnapped you a few hours ago, or why but you had our suspicions maybe it was Dutch or the O’Driscolls?

But you had not seen hide nor tail of them? Perhaps either of them just got lucky and happened to stumble upon you, or maybe you had been watched?

There were too many questions, and not enough answers, but if the O'Driscolls kidnapped you it was to your favor, at least you wouldn't be in Dutch’s strings again, Joey thought to herself. Convenient indeed..

Opening your eyes, you were tied to a chair, but your feet were free, you were in a house and there was a window to your right. It looked familiar indeed, you knew this place, it was Ridgewood farm and it looked the same, but the grass was greener, but it was dark outside. The farm was just around the corner of Tumbleweed, which is right by Gaptooth Ridge.

Joey looked around the room and saw it was a medium sized one,a double bed behind you, a mirror and a dresser, maybe it was the one of the rooms at the front, perhaps near the big barn you thought to yourself. 

Looking out the window, there was a setting sun, still not low enough to be midnight quite yet. But the moon was up, looking quite big and as beautiful as ever.

There was the sound of voices outside the door, listening as hard as you could you managed to hear a few words. 

“You sure she’s the one, Murdoch?” a voice said, it sounded like Colm, maybe it was him?

“Positive brother, she has those unusual eyes the greaser said she had, she has to be the one.” another voice said, you knew that dark voice, it was Murdoch.

Good, you could work with these people, Joey thought to herself. Besides you were curious about these people, maybe they were worth being friends with? 

You always pitied Colm, it was not like Dutch would stay faithful with that Annabel, he always tossed them off if a newer and prettier model popped up. When he was going to be hanged in Saint Denis brought up painful memories in Joey, no one should get hanged. No matter what they’ve done...

Annabel…

Where was she by the way? She wasn’t near the camp, and Murdoch wasn't dead.

So what had happened to her?

But the solutions to most of your problems were just behind that door.  
All they had to do was enter, you wonder what cliches that would say.  
The doorknob moved, and Murdoch moved in and closed the door, it seemed you would get a private conversation with the oldest brother.

Interesting indeed…

“Hello there, Joey wasn't it now?” Murdoch said in a questioning tone, whilst grabbing a chair in the corner, and sitting down in front of you. 

“It's a nickname, but you can use it” you answered whilst looking out the window, a little curious where this conversation would lead.

“Yeah that’s right, I almost forgot that, that lil’ greaser sure was chatty after a couple of bettings from my boys.” Murdoch said with a sneer, whilst getting his knife up from his holster, playing with it.

He was testing you, baiting, he wanted to know something, you recognized the patterns from before. Then he would cut you with that blasted knife.

Unless….

You could play him too, yes this could work in your favor.

“I take it he’s dead?” you answered in a cold emotionless tone, whilst turning your head slowly toward his direction. 

“Yes”

“Good”

“What?” Murdoch said in a confused tone, he didn’t expect that from you. Now you had the chance to play him.

“I never liked him, you did me a favor.” You said in a cold emotionless tone, it had to sound dead or else he could suspect that something was up.

“Damn, they didn’t lie about that you were an emotionless lady” Murdoch said in an almost confused tone.

“I can turn my feelings off for a short while, maybe I could teach you someday.” You answered truthfully. Joey had always wanted to teach some of her “powers” to someone.

“Hmm”

“You know why you’re here right?” Murdoch asked.

“Yes, it’s obvious” you said shortly.

“Then do tell me,” Murdoch said whilst he leaned in on the chair, momentarily stopping with the knife fiddling. 

“Dutch stole 2 scores from you, I’m here as compensation, and I guess Javier told you that I possess a brain, yes?” You answered whilst turning your head to fully face him and looked for a brief second at his eyes.

They were blue, as blue as the sky.

Why do the wicked always get the pretty eyes?

Sigh..

“And clever too, that greaser sure didn’t lie.” Murdoch said with a smile, and suddenly grabbed your chin and rubbed his thumb in a slow, careful circle on your right cheek.

He sure was gentle for an outlaw, well atleast now, maybe he was kind towards women? Joey wondered to herself. He sure was handsome too. Some outlaws were horrible towards their own gender, yet could but not always, be absolute angels towards the other gender.

“Yes we did, but I also heard that you ran away from ole’ Dutch, why?” Murdoch asked you, whilst still slowly caressing your cheek.

“I can’t stand him, he’s a damn fool, I almost wanted to blast my own brain out during thoose 2 awfull weeks I was forced to stay at his stupid camp in Tall Trees!” You almost shouted out to Murdoch, that pig was still a damn problem, he was like a tick, hard to shake off. 

“You know that he’s mighty sweet on you?” Murdoch said with a smile.

“That’s..just well, I don’t know, but I hate him.” You answered Murdoch, a bit stunned at his statement.  
Dutch was in love with you? Oh sure, that pig just had to be all lovey dovey towards you too. It made you sick, the anger welled up in your body, man you needed to rip someone's head off. 

Maybe he never met Annabel?

Murdoch just laughed, at least he found it hilarious.

“You know Joey, he had a woman before, she was pretty, but not as pretty as you. Her name was Annabel but she ran off with some hotshot Marshall, breaking the good ole’ Dutch’s heart in the process. Was mighty entertaining to watch, and it seems it’s bound to repeat again.” Murdoch said with a glee, he found it very amusing to see history repeat. 

Wait! He said you were pretty, oh my...you blushed a bit inwardly. But at least you knew what had happened to Annabel now, she had left him, good for her. 

“You know that you are going to stay here and help us right? Also you are a present for my brother Colm, as I already have a woman of my own.” Murdoch said to you whilst stopping to caress you cheek and now held your head firmly in place. “And he’s already seen you, was head over heels for you already, he likes them feisty and with green eyes too.” Murdoch still held your head, but rose up from his chair, and walked behind your chair and dropped his grip on your head as he cut the ropes of your arms.

Joey held her tongue, she didn’t know what to say.

“I think it’s time to introduce you to my brother.” Murdoch said behind your back, whilst grabbing one of your arms and leading you out of the room. He was leading you towards the bigger bedroom to the left. 

Then you saw Colm, and he was smiling towards you. 

Oh shit, you thought to yourself. Younger Colm was actually surprisingly pretty; he still had the scars on his face, but he had pretty dark green eyes, the color of late summergrass, with a tint of ocean blue in them. You felt drawn towards him, maybe he was not as twisted yet, now that Murdoch was alive, you pondered to yourself. 

“Here’s your girl, brother, I hope you get familiar with each other, since this is now your shared room.” Murdoch said to you, whilst pushing you into the room Colm was in and shutting the door behind him.

Okay, so you are now sharing a room with Colm, well still better than Dutch.

“Well if it ain’t the lady that stole a score from us, right under our noses too, I give you credit for that.” Colm said as he started walking up towards you, he grabbed your arm and pulled you towards a sofa that was placed near the door.  
You both sat down on the sofa, but you wanted to know what he had to say, so you waited for him to speak.

“Gotta give Dutch some credit though, he sure knows how to pick them.” Colm said in a low, almost flirty tone whilst grabbing one of your thighs which was right next to him and started rubbing it in a slow and lazy pattern.

“I heard that no one wants him though, damn pig that he is.” Joey answered back whilst looking down at her thigh, you let him play with your thigh, for now..

Colm scoffed out a laugh. “Yes I hear that you ran away from him, couldn't stand him now?” Colm said whilst keeping up with your thigh massage. “Can’t blame you, we hate him too, he’s stolen too many scores from us and we wanted to get even, and that’s where you come in.” Colm said in a calm voice whilst pulling one of your thighs up, closer towards him, it was now firmly placed on his lap. 

But you still let him do it...They wanted to get back at Dutch and Joey wanted him to get lost or dealt with. This could work in your favor either way.

“You could've just asked me, you know, I would've come with you, but neither of you asked, did ya? I guess taking instead of asking is more of your thing, ain’t it?” Joey said in a sly tone to Colm, you would indeed follow them if they wanted your help to deal with Dutch. It would be a so called mutual benefit as they would call it back home.

Home..

Joey had barely had a moment to spare to think about home. Sure you missed bathrooms, showers and some other things. But what you missed the most was wi-fi, sweet wonderful wi-fi and your music. The music of this time sucked hard, so boring and with no speed, catchy tune or beat in it, utterly dead to your ears. Your musical soul was desperately trying to cling on to the songs you loved back home in your memory, you still remembered them, yet. But in time even the most played of songs would fade from your memory, it happened to everyone and that saddened you, wanting to cling onto that most precious part of home in your heart.

But you were snapped out of your thoughts by Colm who was still playing with your thigh that he held. “No, that’s true we take and don’t ask, but I take it that you already have some idea in that smart head of yours?” Colm said, whilst he grabbed your other thigh and pulled you towards him, Joey was now firmly placed in his lap. You had to place your head under his neck or else you would lose your balance.

Oh, that sly bugger, he played you right into his trap. But still you let him do it, it felt nice to be wanted, no one had ever done this to you before. It felt oddly right in a way to be wanted, getting a few small tokens of affections. 

You had always been alone, sure a few boys had flirted with you when you were in school, it was just words nothing more. But you were mostly ignored by the other girls who hated you, why were you such an alien to them?

You were always forgotten, ignored and frowned upon and it left you lost and broken, cold and unfeeling, unable to trust anyone ever again. Joey had never done or said anything against those people.

Yet you were still an alien, a freak, a plague, a thing that you cast away and avoid.

So like a flower, your heart and mind whilted, but here was Colm, being kind and a bit flirty towards you.

Was it wrong to long for someone to heal your broken heart, to have someone to hold onto in the struggles of life.

The voices in your head were starting to speak again, but they didn’t sound as twisted as they were in Armadillo, they sounded comforting now.

“Take a chance, take what you’ve always been denied child”

“You are safe here, they won’t let you go”

“He won’t let you go back to Dutch”

No, he wouldn't, you thought to himself, they needed you, and in return you would help them. So you leaned your head and kissed Colm carefully under his jaw.

Don’t break me, not again, Joey thought to herself, taking a first and final chance to love in her life. 

Joey then snuggled up to his chest, and listened to his heart, it was racing. You then closed your eyes and fell asleep against his chest in seconds, whilst holding onto his vest. Your way of saying “don’t go” to Colm.  
Colm’s pov

Did she just kiss me, Colm thought to himself, his heart began to race. No woman had ever done that willingly before, it was something he had always taken from them. O’Driscolls are tough and ruthless, yet here was that girl, doing it on purpose, and without any hesitation, she meant to do it. 

Colm felt strange, his cheeks were turning pink, was he blushing? He had never done that before. This feeling was alien to him; he wanted to stab it, or shot it away. But something stopped him, there she was lying on his chest, sleeping peacefully whilst listening to his cold black heart.

He couldn't hurt her, she looked like an angel whilst sleeping on his chest. But she was so pale, looking like a ghost.

Murdoch had told you that he found her 2 days ago, and that he was just waiting for her to get out of the hotel in Armadillo. He had sent in one of the boys in the hotel and they were able to get some information out of the old couple that owned the hotel. 

Joey had fallen in, but it was not a disease per say. The greaser that your brother had tortured and killed had told Murdoch what she had, some autism.It was her mind that was tired, it could manifest physically on the body. Joey was burnt out, and needed to rest, she was no use to you if she was dead after all. That was why Murdoch had waited to grab her, she had to leave on her own first.

Colm had heard about autism a little, but he had never met a person who had it before. But he noticed it when he spoke to her, the lack of eye contact, it was as if she saw demons in the eyes of people. It too was alien to him, he couldn't understand it fully.

But she kept on with that on subject, Dutch, and how she hated him, calling him stupid and kept saying the she didn’t want to get back to him.

It made Colm wonder, what did Dutch do to her? It made him angry and strangely attached to Joey. 

He wanted to keep her, you were drawn to her as soon as Murdoch brought her to your hideout. Many of the men also told that she was mighty pretty. It made Colm jealous and he was usually never jealous. 

No, she was your’s, Murdoch gave her to you, he already had a woman, Bella. You had been jealous that your brother found a woman for himself before you. But here was your woman.  
And you’ll be damned if Dutch tried to steal her from you.

She was yours, and yours only, no one else could have her.

“Mine” Colm mumbled to himself as he stroked Joey’s hair. He then placed his head on top of hers, and closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep himself. 

Mine...


	11. Getting to know an O'Driscoll

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter, I can't spell to save my life.
> 
> Colm is flirteh here to ladies...
> 
> Also rabbits are evil with their stupid holes....

Dutch pov

It had been almost 1 week since Dutch had seen Joey. The day she disappeared a gang of O’Driscolls attacked the camp early in the morning. After the shootout the gang had been looking for her.

But they had found nothing but her horse tracks, which led to the stream. Had she been kidnapped, Ducth would wonder to himself. But Charles had found some tracks that matched her horse further down the stream.

Had she fled during the shootout? But Charles told Dutch that her tracks led towards New Austin, but thankfully they didn’t lead towards Thieves Landing.

Thieves Landing was Murdoch and Colm’s town, they had taken it over completely, it was a true stronghold, filled with their loyal and wild gang members. It was also their favoured drinking hole. But she didn’t go there.

Dutch had sent Javier, Charles, John, Arthur and Micah after her tracks. Joey was your’s after all. She just hadn't fallen for your charms, yet, that feisty ill tempered woman kept pushing you away. 

It was charming, and Dutch was up to the challenge, the more she resisted you, the sweeter the reward would be when she finally submitted to him, Dutch would often think to himself. 

But Charles had brought back terrible news a few days ago, Javier was dead, he had been brutally tortured and beaten. Charles had found him in the swamps near Thieves Landing. 

It had to be those damned brothers Murdoch and Colm’s handiwork. They had found your camp quickly, they were surely furious at you for stealing their score in Blackwater. Then Joey had helped you steal the coach.

Dutch pinched his nose at his new camp, which was in the forest near Strawberry, called Blackborne something, you didn’t quite remember or care to think about at the moment. The priority of the gang was to make money and find Joey and get her back before Murdoch or Colm got their greedy, filthy hands on her.

“Dutch, how are you holding up old friend?” Hosea said to you, waking him up through his thoughts about their current mess. 

“I feel a bit lost, Hosea, I miss that girl, even her sarcasm.” Dutch said whilst closing his book and looking at Hosea that was standing right next to him in his tent. 

“I know what you felt towards that girl, but you have a gang that needs you too Dutch, let her go for now until we get back on our feet. Joey is smart, she'll manage just fine without us. It’s too dangerous to send the boys alone towards New Austin, the O’Driscolls made it clear considering what they did to poor Javier.” Hosea said with a sigh, he always hated when good people died for nothing.

“If I let her go, those damned O’Driscolls we’ll surely find her, and use her against us, you saw how fast she made up that plan against that coach, imagine if she gets more time. Who knows what she’ll think up then, I won’t let them use her against use. S-s-she’s too important for our gang to lose.” Dutch said with a sigh to Hosea.

“She doesn’t belong to our gang Dutch, we took her in Blackwater, we don’t own her. Joey has the right to do what she wants, I still think that she ran away from us, I don't think she was forced by anyone.” Hosea said with a sigh, whilst sitting down in a chair in Dutch’s tent. 

“Dutch!”

“Boss”

It was Arthur, John and Micah, coming into camp in full gallop. 

Dutch raised himself from his chair and walked towards the 3 of them with a quick step.

“Easy boys, breathe. What is it that you wanted to tell me?” Dutch said to the 3 of them.

Micah started to speak first. “I found her in Armadillo, she was as pale as a corpse, but she was followed by a gang of O'Driscolls, I saw Murdoch himself follow her.” Micah said with a panting breath, he had ridden fast and hard to tell Dutch these urgent news.

“I think they knew what she meant to you Dutch, since Murdoch seemed very keen on getting her.” John said right after Micah.

“We couldn't find her yesterday in Armadillo, so Murdoch must’ve taken her Dutch, Javier must’ve told them something, but I don’t blame him, that poor bastard got a horrible end.” John said whilst moving towards Hosea. 

“This is what I feared, Hosea now those brothers have her, and they'll use her against us, heck I’ll even admit it, she’s smarter than me.” Dutch said with a sigh as he looked towards Hosea. 

“Don’t worry too much, Dutch she’s as stubborn as a flock of mules, she won’t break, and they won’t kill her either, she’s too valuable for them. She might even escape, since she’s no fool, and Murdoch he’s smart, but not as smart as her. Colm is maybe only half as smart as brother at best. I say we wait, we can’t rush into this hastily Dutch, they’ll be suspecting it, we’ll be walking into a trap.” Hosea said sternly to Dutch, hoping he would listen to reason, he didn't want to lose another gang member so soon. 

“Alright Hosea, we do it your way, what is your plan?” Dutch asked Hosea and looked at him, John, Arthur and Micah joined in too, eager to know what Hosea had planned.

Meanwhile back at Ridgewoodfarm..

Joey’s Pov

You had woken up in your shared bed with Colm. He was holding your waist and sleeping soundly behind you, it felt nice to Joey to have someone. You grabbed one of his hands and started looking at them, Colm was still out cold, so he didn't notice a thing, his hands were so rough and weathered, unloved in a way.

Just like you..

But you could fix his hand and him too, you didn’t tell Hosea that you were a master at giving massages. No, this was something you kept to yourself, if you told them they would tease you.

Or fake injuries to get your massages, which is equally as annoying, Joey huffed to herself.

But Colm surely hasn't gotten any massages ever in his life, right? He was the perfect “test subject” and doing this usually released a lot of pent up energy and anger from you. It’s a win-win, you thought to yourself.

You wondered how Colm reacted to your surprise kiss you gave him yesterday, you had never kissed a man before.. He looked fine, and calm, he clung onto you like a baby opossum after all. 

Holding one of his hands you started to slowly massage it, kneading out the knots and stiff muscles you felt that he had in his hand, you wondered how his back and legs would be if he was this stiff in just his hands.

Sigh…

But hey, now you had 2 plans ahead of you, fix Colm's stiff body, and see if you had an ounce of luck in love. 

Joey hoped that both plans would succeed..

Kneading and pulling on Colm’s hand it popped a bit, and felt better for him surely. If only there was some pleasant music in the background like some romantic movie. Then a camera would come in and film you two.

Boy meets girl..

Girl meets boy…

They fall in love and live happily ever after...silly but..you did still want someone..

Everyone deserves someone after all…

You never did judge people, no matter what you had heard about them before. It wasn't fair to the person. Dutch was the exception for the rule though. Joey wanted to get to know them, then make up her opinion about them as time went. That was what Colm needed to, it can't be easy to find your special someone, if others listen to rumors about you, blinding them to what could be treasure right in front of you.

You sighed and laughed to yourself in your mind, listen to me, sounding wise and poetic, I must be getting old. 

You grabbed his other other hand, kneading and fixing all the little kinks in his hand. Colm still didn't move if anything he seemed to sleep even deeper, if that now was even possible.

You worked yourself out of his grip and luckily Colm didn’t seem to notice a thing. Rising out of the bed, you looked out of the window, it was morning and you were eager to get some fuel in your tank as it was starting to run low by now. You quietly sneaked out of the room and quickly opened and closed the door as quietly as you could.

But you bumped into a woman back as you turned after closing the door.

“Shit!”

“Easy there, Joey” The woman said whilst turning towards you. She was a beautiful white woman, with an angelic looking face, dark blonde and she had long hair a little way past her shoulders. Her eyes were so blue, it looked like the oceans of a tropical island.

Wow...wait, didn't Murdoch say that he had a woman? This had to be the girl then. Joey wondered if she was as kind as she looked. 

“Ah, they told you my name, I suspect that you're Murdoch’s girl, then?” You asked in a kind tone, please be as kind as you look, you thought to yourself.

“I am, the name is Bella, and I’m sorry for Murdoch, he did seem to get a bit carried away.” Bella said in a sweet tone. “He didn't have to hit you so hard in the head, but don’t you worry I already scolded him about that.” Bella said back to you.

Joey was floored, Bella had fallen for the heavens, she was an angel.

And you were a wild beast compared to her, untamed, unbroken, wild and would never surrender. 

“So, ehm you do know that you look and act like an angel right?” You said very sheepishly whilst rubbing your neck, wanting to hide, your cheeks were flushed a deep pink color by now.

Bella just laughed at you, she didn’t seem angry or bothered.

“Oh stop it Joey, I'm no angel, but you can call me by it, if it makes you happy.” Bella answered cheerfully, whilst playfully pushing your shoulder lightly. “Come, let’s get some breakfast, Colm and Murdoch are sleeping anyway, so us ladies might have some breakfast.” Bella said whilst leading you downstairs into the kitchen.

The both of you ate together, and after finishing your breakfast the both of you decided to get to know each other. 

“So, Bella the angel, how long have you been with Murk the jerk?” You joked playfully. 

Bella broke down into a wild fit of laughter after hearing that, nearly falling out of her chair in the progress. At least now you know that she had a sense of humor, so maybe Murdoch and Colm would like your jokes too?

Ohh this could be very entertaining indeed. 

“Ohh, I don’t think I’ve laughed that much in a long time, good name on him by the way, but don’t call him that yet, he has a temper after all.” Bella answered whilst wiping away the tears of joy from her eyes. “Oh, we’ve been together 4 years, and married almost 1 year.

“Fine, fine, wait hold on girl, you are married?!” You asked in a choked tone. Was Murdoch married to an angel? Lucky bugger.

“Yes, I am, and I have quite the proof to that statement too.” Bella raised her right hand and showed her beautiful ring, it was made of gold and filled with diamonds. it was so much bling on it, lucky girl.

Joey took her hand and inspected the ring in awe. it was so pretty and fabulous. 

“Damn girl, those Irishmen have taste, I admit to be very jealous of the ring. Murdoch is a lucky guy indeed.” You answered in a slightly stunned voice, that ring, wow.

“I think you’ll get one too Joey”

“Really, how do you know this?” You asked in a playful tone.

“Ohh I just saw how Colm looked at you last night, and then I saw the 2 of you sleeping on the sofa, he’s never done that to anyone else before.” Bella said in a teasing tone, whilst wiggling her eyebrows and haveing the biggest shiteating grin on her face. “Then after a while he carried you to your bed and snuggled up pretty comfortably behind you” Bella said in a sing-song voice. 

“Ohh, well, I-i-I didn’t know that.” You answered whilst turning into a hot pink blushing mess. “Bella, your killing me here thou evil woman.” You answered back absolutely embarrassed. 

Ohh this woman was going to be your friend you felt it in your bones. Bella was perfection, sweet, yet a big tease, and liked your jokes. It was meant to be, Joey thought to herself. 

The 2 of you continued to talk for a little while longer, having a few jabs at each other but you got along perfectly. It was as you had always known each other. After a little while a sleepy Murdoch came into the kitchen and greeted Bella with a kiss. But then he noticed you and had a small sly grin on his face.

“Stealing my woman now,are ya, Joey?” Murdoch asked with a grin. 

“No, we were discussing how we should dye your hair pink, then set the farm on fire, then we glue horns on all the horses.” You said back in an evil voice whilst looking at Bella, hoping she would join in your prank. She got the hint, and winked at you at joining in your prank. 

“No, no, you forgot about the part where we paint the horses in all the colors of the rainbow, then we braid all the horses' tails and call them unicorns.” Bella said in an equally evil tone.

Murdoch just starred between the 2 of you, but he looked amused.

“Great there's 2 of you now, and already planning for the apocalypse.” Murdoch mumbled to Bella. 

Then you and Bella bursted into laughter, the look on Murdoch’s face was priceless. Served him right for hitting you in the head.

“Ohh very funny, you shits, laugh it up, I take it was Joey’s idea” Murduch asked whilst sitting down on a chair next to Bella, holding her hand.

“Why yes, and I wanted a bit of revenge for your rude way to say hi to me. It’s a strange ritual in the west you got here, saying hello by hitting people in the head. Why back home, we throw pineapples on the heads of people as we greet them.” You teased back. Bring it on Murdoch, we have done this dance already and won.

Murdoch was drinking his coffee whilst you were talking, before he stopped and spat it out and started coughing and laughing, Bella joined in too.

“My, I guess you vikings are more savage than us then.” Murdoch teased back, it seemed that he was in the mood for your game.

“Which brings me to this..” You said whilst grabbing a piece of bread and throwing it at him.

“Shite!” Murdoch shouted, but he managed to duck into cover before the bread landed flat onto his face.

“Ha, ya missed me!”

“Bah you're not even worth the effort Murko, old man” You teased him, whilst sticking out your tongue at him.

“Murko? Now that’s a new one”

“Hey, by the way, did you see my two customized guns, those with the skulls?” You asked Murdoch, wondering what he thought of them. 

“I did, and they were pretty neat.” Colm answered whilst leaning at the door frame, it would seem that he had just arrived at the kitchen. 

“There you are brother, I was wondering if I had to drag your ass outta bed as usual.” Murdoch said in a sarcastic tone to Colm. “You know Joey, this is the earliest hour he has been outta bed in months, I guess you have done a heck of a job on him in a few hours.” Murdoch said in a teasing tone to you, whilst drinking his coffee.

“Very funny.”

“I think it was.”

I would seem that Colm and Murdoch were constantly bickering and teasing each other. In other words a typical brotherhood relationship..

Colm walked up to you and sat down in a chair next to you, kicked his brother under the table, and started eating his breakfast. 

“Oh, and you did an amazing job on my hands Joey, they feel brand new.” Colm said whilst drinking his coffee.

Murdoch and Bella looked at you confused. “What did you do it has to be good if my brother finally shut his trap.” Murdoch asked whilst looking at his brother.

Oh, how embarrassed you felt, you thought Colm was asleep. But you had to say something..

“I'm good at fixing things, like muscles, and joints, if I feel like it. Your brother just so happens to be in need of a repair, so I fixed his hands.” You said in a cold tone, desperately trying to hide your blush. 

“Well, lucky you Colm.”

“Can you fix backs too?” Bella asked, sounding both amazed and curious. “I fell off my horse a month ago, and my back still feels a bit off.” Bella asked you and hugged Murdoch's hand a bit harder. Was she afraid of you? Or was there something else up..

“Yes, I can but I don’t like fixing it all the time. What’s in it for me?” You asked a bit more cold then you had intended to be.

“Exactly, don’t do work for no profit.” Colm said whilst he grabbed your hand. 

“It would seem that the 2 of you are meant for each other, ain’t that so Colm?” Murdoch said whilst looking at Colm with a grin plastered to his face. 

Sure, you were ill tempered and so was Colm, but you didn’t know each other that well yet. It’s impossible to get attached to a person in under a day, right? You thought to yourself, it’s impossible, surely.

Right?

“So it would seem.” Colm answered Murdoc back, still holding your hand, but now with a firm grip.

“Come on Joey, we have work to do.” Colm said, rising from his chair and pulling you along with him. He led you towards the front door and led you outside, to his black horse. He then mounted his horse and gestures for you, to hop on behind him.

“Well I have to be honest, I haven’t actually ridden with 2 people on before.” You said shyly and backed away from his horse, you had no idea how to get on and you didn’t feel like sharing a horse with Colm yet. 

“Well, todays the day then.” Colm said in a calm tone and gestures for 2 gang members to help you up on his horse.

Helped you they did, by helping they just picked you up and placed you on Colm’s horse. You were sure that you were absolutely red in your face, utterly embarrassed as you were. 

Colm then spurred his horse out of Ridgewood farm and steered towards Gaptooth Breach. It was where those crazy miners hung about, you remembered the mission, it was where John stole a gatling gun in the first game. He then stopped a distance from the entrance and gave you a pair of binoculars.

“So here's what you are going to do, you are going to find out where we can hit and rob these crazy miners. I don't care if it’s bloody and they all die, I just want it to be done quickly, our boys are good shots, so don't worry your pretty little head about that.” Colm said in a surprisingly calm tone, and grabbed your thigh, it seemed that he was excited about something. 

But as before you let him do it..It still felt nice to get some appreciation you thought to yourself.

“Ok, gimme a moment and I’ll see what I can do.” Joey answered Colm, you were a bit nervous, you didn’t want to disappoint him or his brother. If you did they could still do bad things towards you.

Looking through the binoculars, you saw that it looked exactly the same as it did in the first game, which meant that there was that lift up on the hill that could be lowered into the mine. If you rigged that with explosives you could draw them all out when it exploded, and then the rest of the miners could be picked off in the dust. 

Brutal, quick, and clean this would surely impress them, you thought to yourself with a glee.

“Is the thing you’re after in the mine?” You asked Colm, in case you had to make changes in your plan.

“No, it’s in the big building by the entrance.” 

“Alright, I know how you can do it.” You answered confidently.

“Damn that was quick, we’ve only been here for 3 minutes.” Colm said, sounding impressed and held your thigh harder. “Alright what’s the plan then?

“It’s easy, you send some of your boys in at the top of that hill, there is a big crane there, then you’ll fill the little lift they have there that goes into the mine with a huge pile of dynamite. When it explodes in the mine, those who survived it will run out of the mine, then the others outside will be confused and have their guard down for a few minutes. You just hide your men on the rocks, some snipers among them. Then just kill them all, it should take a few minutes, at most if you do it this way. “ Joey answered confidently giveing Colm back his binoculars in the process. 

Colm was silent for a few seconds until he laughed a little later. “Now, I get why Dutch is so desperate to get you back, but he won’t get you back. Not on my watch, we’ll get along just fine you and me. Colm answered with a wicked smile on his face, turning his horse back towards the farm.

“So you like my plan then, I take it?”

“It’s genius, can’t wait to see Murdoch’s face, when I tell him your plan.” Colm said as he patted your thigh. You in the meanwhile held on for dear life, grabbing his waist firmly.

“I like you Joey, with you helping us, we'll be as rich as kings in a matter of months” Colm said, whilst you were grabbing onto his waist harder.

“You know, Dutch never did appreciate my work on that coach job I did for him, he just nodded and sprinted off with his money.” You said in an annoyed tone to Colm. Sure he held a party and thanked you a bit, but you didn’t want that noise. No, just something more then a stupid party.

“Hmm, then he’s a fool, but you already know this don’t you?” Colm said whilst turning his head slightly towards you, looking at you with a stern face, but there was kindness in his eyes, you felt it.

“Yes, I do..”

The 2 of you arrived at the farm a little while later. Colm dismounted his horse, and handed the reins to some gang member, but he did help you off his horse. The both of you then approached the house, and were greeted by Murdoch and Bella.

“You go with Bella, me and Murdoch have to plan out who’s going to be one the job by the mine.” Colm said as he and his brother walked into a room that was in the bottom floor. 

So there you and Bella stood for a few seconds. “Alright Joey, I was planning on getting a bath before we move out tomorrow, care to join me?” Bella asked you as the 2 of you started walking upstairs towards the bathroom.

“So, I don’t get to join in on that job I helped them with? You asked a bit confused, if you handed them the plans surely you would join them?

“No, Murdoch is still keeping you under watch, and he won’t give your guns back anytime soon either.” Bella answered as the 2 of you started to prepare the bath. 

“Well, I don’t blame him for that, actually.” You said as you started to get some clothes off before you got in the bath. “I wouldn't trust one so soon with a gun either.” You answered Bella truthfully, it would seem that Murdoch wasn't someone you could easily fool. At least not yet, you had to figure out how he worked first, getting to know his patterns before you tried to pull anything on him.

But if you did this, you could get in trouble with Colm, and you were starting to like him a bit. It wasn't worth it, at least not without a good reason, Joey concluded to herself.

The both of you washed and fixed yourself up. Bella gave you a nightgown of her’s as you didn’t have any. You asked her about your things and she said that Murdoch had hidden them somewhere, and not to worry, as he would make sure that they would come along in the move. Joey also asked Bella where the gang was going, it turned out that you were going back to Thieves Landing. The brothers had robbed all the big scores in the area, that mine was the last thing keeping them there. After that score, they would pack up and hang back in Thieves Landing for a while before heading into West Elizabeth. 

Joey had planned her outfit for tomorrow and given her other clothes to Bella, so she could pack them with your hidden things. The outfit you had chosen was a pair of black pants,a red shirt, black relentless boots, rifleman gloves, and your satchel. 

You were tired, and felt much more comfortable not that you had a nightgown on. It was late and you had already had something to eat, you decided to call it a night.

Colm, sure was taking long, you wondered what he was up too, the plan you gave them was simple enough. But maybe he was doing something else, you shrugged to yourself and laid down in the bed, pulling the covers over your body and closing your eyes.

You had maybe been asleep for an hour or 2, when something woke you up. It was Colm, he was in the bed with you and he was apparently feeling amorous. He was pulling you towards him so that the both of you were face to face in the bed on your sides.

Feeling confused, you wanted to ask him what he was doing, but you had no chance to do so. Before you had the chance to get the words out your mouth, he was at your mouth, kissing you and really going at it. He pushed his tongue into your mouth and was almost devouring you as he went at it, hungry, and greedy. 

Colm wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you closer still, he didn’t say a word, just kept kissing you. Making you feel dizzy, as he was stealing the air out of your lungs. He paused for a brief moment to get some air, and you gasped for air as well, you tried to speak again but Colm dived right back in, kissing you he kept doing this for god knows how long before he just stopped. 

He didn’t say a word, as he kept holding you and placed his head above yours and closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. You on the other hand, were confused as hell, what just happened, you wondered to yourself. But it was late and you were too tired to think, so you snuggled up next to his chest and placed your head under his chin and went to sleep seconds later.

Were you falling in love? 

It was the last thing you heard in your head, before you fell asleep.


	12. Roads

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooo! Steamy chapters ahead! Also the usual I can't spell..=(

“Joey”

“Wake up”

Opening your eyes, you saw that Colm was besides you, clearly wanting you to get out of bed.

“No, don’t wanna, it’s comptable in here” You said in a sleepy voice, just 5 more minutes, it's warm and cozy in here you thought to yourself.

Colm laughed and leaned his head onto yours. “We have to go, we have a long way to go.”He said softly, whilst pushing you up a bit. “I also have to send some of my boys off to the mine that you planned.”

“Oh, did your brother like my plan?” You asked as you stretched like a cat, slowly rising yourself out of the bed. 

“Oh he liked it alright, he mumbled all night about how simple and smart it was, he felt stupid. Should’ve seen the look on his face.” Colm answered smugly as he helped you up, pushing you out of the bed, onto your feet. 

“I like torturing your brother, maybe it should be a new hobby of mine. I might even pull some of my pranks on him.” You answered as you started to pick up your clothes. 

“Go ahead, he deserves it, that grumpy bastard.” Colm said a cheerful voice.

Then you realised that during the bath you had managed to hide your body armor, but you had it on now. If he saw it he could maybe think you were crazy, or he could think that you were a genius. Shrugging to yourself, you put your pants and boots on, and leaned over to get your shirt. 

“Wait, what's that metal thing you have on ya?” Colm asked as he walked up next to you and started touching it.

“Oh, that thing, I invented a while back, but it’s not perfected yet, it needs some improvement first before I’m satisfied. Joey answered back, it was better to come out clean then fiddle around a lying. 

“What do you need this thing for?”

“It stops bullets and protects you from knives, if I can fix it to my standards.” You said.

“Really, this thing can do that?” Colm asked, sounding utterly amazed. “When you get the hang of this thing, make one for my brother and me.” Colm said, sounding very interested in your body armor.

“I can make one for everyone, then show you how you do it. After that, all your gang can be protected.” You said back in a confident tone, if they all were protected from bullets they could take on most things with less problems.

“We’ll see about that, you said you had a few more things left on it” Colm said as he started walking towards the door.

“Yeah, but it can be fixed I’m sure of it.” You answered determined to get it done for Colm, if he was safe then you were too, he had promised you to protect you from Dutch after all. 

The rest of morning was spent fixing all the things needed to be done before the gang went off towards Thieves Landing. Colm and Murdoch were giving orders to the gang about the mine. Bella and you were grabbing all their stuff, packing the wagons and making sure that nothing was left behind that were of use. 

It seemed that Bella was right about one thing, you weren’t allowed on the job you helped them with, but it didn’t matter to you, not now anyway. Colm and Murdoch didn’t go there either, their gang was so big that they could hang back and let others get most things done for them. If they didn’t, it would be a bullet or a fate worse than death to the fool who angered them.

You and Bella were finally finished at around 10 a clock with all the loading and everyone was ready to head out. You found Bacchus and had spoiled him rotten, he seemed to have missed you too, as he searched you for treats.

Colm and Murdoch were on their horses, ready to move out. Looking at Murdoch, you saw that his horse was a huge,a black hungarian halfbreed, it matched him quite well. Bella was on a cute fuzzy gypsy cob, brown with 4 perfect socks and a bald head with blue eyes under a fuzzy mane. Bacchus was so very different from their horses, it was like comparing a Ferrari to a Ford. 

Joey mounted Bacchus and could not resist teasing Murdoch a bit, Colm had told you that he was fine with it after all. “I would ask you for a race Murdoch, but I don’t think you’ll have a chance on that thing.” You said in a slightly sly tone whilst looking at his horse a bit, it was cute, but looked slow.

“Ha, ha very funny, I’ll have you know that Akilles here is faster then he looks.” Murdoch said back in an irritated tone whilst pushing his horse forward towards Bacchus. Perhaps he didn’t like being challenged?  
“Right then, then prove it, my Bacchus will beat your Akilles, and after I win, I get a free pass to annoy you for 1 hour.” Joey said in an amused tone. This would be an easy victory for you.

“Only if Colm joins in.”

“Sure, you’ll need all the help you can get” You said back in a sing-song voice. It would be funny if Colm saw how you utterly defeated his brother after all. 

“I’m in, I wanna see this.” Colm answered back to his brother.

Good, now you had both brothers all pepped up for the contest, all you needed was a start and a finishing line, you thought. “Got any idea of where?” You asked the both of them, maybe they knew a good place.

“Yes, the road by the bridge by Tumbleweed to Armadillo by Coot’s chapel road.” Murdoch answered whilst pointing towards the bridge.

So the gang rode towards the starting line, Bella decided not to race. She said she had no chance, but told the 3 of you to wait for the rest of them by the finishing line. The 3 of you agreed to wait for them. So now all of you were lined up at the starting line.

“Alright then, Bella, you shot on 3 and we’ll meet you up ahead. After I win over Joey here that is.” Murdoch said whilst puffing himself up a bit. The fool thought he had a chance over you..

Fool…you would utterly destroy him..

“Alright then on 3”

3…

2…

1…

Bang!

And the group of you were off!

Murdoch and Colm were quicker at the start, but you knew that Bacchus could beat them backwards anyday. Colm was leading by a few lengths, Murdoch was right on his tail. But you were biding your time, waiting for them to burn off some energy before you would run past them

“So much for a challenge!” Murdoch shouted back at Joey.

Oh, you didn’t fall for his trick, he was baiting you..

Predictable…

Their horses were slowing down after a little while, near the abandoned train station, then you made your move, pushing Bacchus on. Bacchus surged on, with his ears pricked forward, he was eager and pushed past the rest of them with ease, and just kept running faster, and faster, it felt as if you were flying, briefly free from all your troubles, you looked behind and saw that Colm and Murdoch were way back. 

Bacchus just kept going, eating the ground, he really was something. You started to get closer towards the finishing line, but as you got closer towards Armadillo the number of horses on the road increased as well, especially wagons. It was only a few meters left to the finishing line, but there was a fine wagon placed right over the road, there was no one in it and it wasn't too high.

So you decided to do something crazy, looking briefly over your shoulder you saw Murdoch and Colm were gaining ground; they were maybe 30 meters behind you. Then you looked forward to the wagon, and did what you planned to do, jump it.

“Come on Bacchus!” You shouted to your horse. Bacchus ears perked up and he understood what you wanted, picking up more speed, he angled himself, and made a huge jump over the coach flying way over it’s height, and landed as stealthy as a cat on the other side of the wagon. 

Meanwhile you heard the boys yelling at you.

“That’s cheating!”

“Mine can’t do that, that doesn't count!”

“Eat my dust!” You shouted back to them gleefully, as you passed the finishing line in the speed of lightning, you trotted Bacchus for a while, petting him and giving him a treat for his good work. “I didn’t think you’d even make it here Murdoch.” You teased back.

“We’ll it ain’t often that you race with lightning himself, that’s some horse you got there.” Murdoch said as he slowed down Akilles to a stop and stood besides Bacchus. “What Is the breed on him anyway?” Murdoch was curious to what beat him in a race.

“Turkoman” You answered back whilst petting Bacchus on the neck.

“Ahh, then I know why, I was whopped so hard” Murdoch said whilst looking down on the ground utterly beaten by a girl. 

It was very funny seeing a man beaten in a race he thought he could win. Joey puffed herself up a bit.”Well, to the victor the spoils. You’re slow and ugly for 1 hour now.” You said back whilst looking up making you seem taller.

“Great one hour of torture ahead of me..” Murdoch said with a sigh, but you saw that there was a faint smile in the corner of his mouth. He didn’t seem to mind it after all, it was only for one hour after all. 

“You heard what my girl said, ugly.” Colm teased his brother.

Wait, did he say that you were his girl? Joey blushed a bit, but looked down towards the ground before either of them could notice. Then you got an idea, even though you won you could let Murdoch have some fun as well.

“Tell you what ugly, even though you lost, I can let you borrow Bacchus until we reach Thieves Landing, so that you know what beat ya.” Joey said in a kind tone, there was really no need to rub it in further, you wanted to know the both of them after all.

“Sure let’s swap, I’m kinda curious to get on what beat me.” Murdoch said happily, it seemed to cheer him up at once. The both of you quickly swapped horses and started to fix you stirrups. 

“Man, your small, damn shrimp have to lengthen this out all the way!”

“Well you're abnormally tall, I look I’ve shrunk up here! How am I even going to get down without a ladder or something?” 

“I ain’t abnormally tall, you take that back!”

“Never, ya ugly buttface!” 

Colm started laughing at the both of you.”This going to be a funny hour, the others ain’t gonna be here for another 15 minutes, I think” He said whilst looking at a watch that he had in his pocket. “Joey, you actually look tiny on Akilles, he’s too big for you.” He said whilst looking at you and Akilles.

“Oh great, take your brothers side you traitor” Joey teased back.

“Well it’s the truth.”

“Traitor” Joey half whispered back teasing Colm, He only scoffed a laugh back.  
A few minutes later, the rest of the gang arrived at Armadillo. They just looked at you and knew who won, they didn’t even have to ask. Most of them, Bella included, said their condolences to Murdoch. It isn't often their boss gets utterly beaten, yet again by you. Riding past Armadillo and scaring half the population in the process, you pass the town and head towards the big cliff that leads towards MacFarlene’s Ranch.

Murdoch was having the time of his life on Bacchus, running past you and Colm at high speeds, and yelling at Colm that he’s going to get a turkoman for himself. The both of you just laughed at him and pressed on. Nearing the ranch, Joey thought they would take the road on the side of the ranch as it was more discreet and perhaps wiser. Both they didn’t, they went straight through, it was not like they had anything to fear after all.

The gang was huge, there had to be 40 of them here, but there were more of them before at the farm, but they were robbing the mine. The law was pissed and glared at them, but they didn’t say or do anything. If they did, the gang would probably kill everyone. Joey looked at the ranch, it looked as it did in the first game, the barn was there and the cow pens at the other side of the barn were there too.

You hoped that there would be no trouble as you walked through the ranch. Remembering that Drew and Bonnie were quite tough characters, and it didn’t take much to set them off, but they were still good people and they helped John several times after all. But it seemed that trouble was following you wherever you went nowadays.

You saw a pissed off man exciting the house with a blonde equally pissed off woman behind him. Great, here came Drew and Bonnie, and they had rifle’s in their hands. You stopped Akilles and looked at them, Colm and Murdoch followed suit shortly after you. 

“That’s far enough for you boys, you get your gang and get out of here now! I’ve told you before, that your gang can pass quickly through my ranch, not paradeing through it!” Drew shouted at Colm and Murdoch, the rest of the gang quickly circled their bosses, gun in hand, just waiting to fire on their order. 

The brothers looked quickly at each other, before deciding who should handle it. To your surprise, Colm stepped forward this time. 

“Hello Drew, long time no see. I don’t remember you making any demands to us, when we threatened to kill everyone and anything that moves in this ranch the last time we spoke.” Colm said in a threatening voice, calm yet laced with venom. He didn’t seem to care what Drew just said. “Boys, do you remember what he said last time?” Colm asked the gang looking over his shoulder.

“Sure didn’t say anything boss!”

“No, he just screamed like a pig the last time!”

“Burn the ranch down, boss!”

Colm then looked at Drew again.”It would seem that you're lying to me, Drew. And what do we do with Liars boys?” Colm asked the gang, while moving his horse towards Akilles, the one you were sitting on, and standing next to you. 

“Torture them, boss!”

“Burn the whole place down!”

“Take everything they got!” 

The gang around you were getting more and more eager to kill something. This would not end well for the ranch, but there was nothing you could do. Calming them down wouldn't work, these outlaws lived for killing, robbing and taking everything they wanted, you were out of depths. Colm looked at you, what was he thinking about, you wondered.

“Alright boys, you know the drill, kill everyone, torture our rude host, kill the rest!” Colm shouted to the gang, whilst quickly whipping his gun out and shooting Drew right in the chest. “Joey, we ride to Thieves Landing now, Murdoch and Bella will follow us, we're letting the boys have some fun.”

You just swallowed, and rode next to Colm whilst the rest of the gang ripped the ranch apart, they dragged a screaming Bonnie into the barn, she had some of her fathers blood on her face. 

The group of you galloped towards Thieves Landing, making progress as you were then in less than 5 minutes. As you entered the town, there were loads of men at the main road, shouting and greeting their bosses eagerly. Colm and Murdoch seemed to love the respect and attention they received from their loyal gang members. They puffed themselves up and shouted back to some of their men. You and Bella rode off to the small stables by one of the buildings at the center of town, one of the wagons had followed you to the town and stopped behind the both of you. 

“Alright Joey, Murdoch said that you could get your things back. They’re in this wagon. Bella said as she dismounted her horse, and grabbed all your items. “Also Murdoch and my house is over there” Bella said whilst pointing towards the old clothes shop, but it looked pretty now, it seemed to be a full on house now. “Your and Colm’s house is the one right next to the bridge over there.” Bella pointed to the other house, you recognized the house, it was the same that John bought in the town in the first game. 

It too, looked much better, it had been turned into a full house now to, looking like a gem, just like Bella’s house did. “Ok, I guess you have the key to both houses right?” Joey asked Bella, whilst grabbing all her items back, it sure was a lot of stuff you had with you, realising that as you had all your items back. “Sure do, just leave your stuff there and we’ll get something to eat, I’m starving.” Bella said, as she handed you the key to your house, and walked off towards her own.

It seemed strange to be back here, again. It was strange, and many of the men were looking at you, whispering and pointing towards Colm and you. But Colm wouldn't let anyone lay a finger on you, right?

Hugging the key in your hand, you walked towards your house. There were no stairs outside the house now, also you opened the door on the back now, just by the bride, right by the water and that small bridge. Entering the house, you looked around the house, it was medium sized and actually quite pretty too. The stairs that used to outside, were now by the door, but maybe 2 meters in from the door and to left. The house was covered in pretty furniture, an equally pretty, but small kitchen, there was a sofa at the end of the house.The walls were decorated in pretty victorian wallpapers in emerald green, Colm sure liked his green. There was no bathroom downstairs, perhaps it was upstairs? The last thing downstairs was a table with some chairs. 

You shifted a bit in your step, your stuff sure was heavy. Walking towards the stairs you wandered upstairs. The upstairs was just as pretty as downstairs, it was one big room, with a big beed, wardrobe, table, chairs and a sofa. The only thing that separates the room was a big bathroom, equipped with a bath and everything else. After looking through the room, you placed your items on the table, guns and your rifle. Opening the wardrobe you hung in all your clothes next to Colm’s. Then you headed out of the house after you had fixed all your things. 

Bella was waiting by the little stable, and she gestured for you to follow her. “So, tell me what did you think of your house? Bella asked as she led you towards her house. “I sure is a gem, I didn’t think it would be so pretty, judging by the outside.” You answered Bella as you followed her towards her house. “Sure is pretty on the inside, just like our boys.” Bella whispered in your ear, as she poked you teasingly in the ribs. You laughed at her little comment, Bella was more like you then you thought, and it made you feel happy, and home. “Sch, don't let them hear us and get any ideas,” You whispered back to Bella. “Where did they go anyway?” You asked Bella whilst looking around you, the town, it seemed empty by the sudden, did they have a meeting or something? “Oh, there at the yard, talking about something, the rest of the gang from Gaptooth and the Ranch just came in. It seems that your plan worked perfectly. I didn’t see any boys missing.” Bella said to you as you entered her house, and sat down at her table.

“Ohh.” Was all you said back to her. The plan worked? Well that’s good...But you were curious about what Colm was up to, he usually stuck to your side like glue. 

But you soon cast that thought away, Bella and you sat and ate at her table and were gossiping about this and that for a few hours. But you were tired and wanted to get some sleep, it was dark outside by now, so you hugged Bella good night and walked to your house. It still felt strange that you had a house with Colm now. You heard alot of noises at the saloon it was at the opposite side of the house. Standing by the window upstairs, you saw Colm and Murdoch having fun in the saloon, playing poker and drinking whisky or something.

You changed into your nightgown and cleaned yourself up, and placed your body armor on the table by the other side of the room. Climbing in your bed, you felt lonely, the Colm of this world wasn't too bad, sure he killed people, but so did all the others in Dutch’s gang. Thinking about then, you wondered how Sean, Lenny, Hosea and even Micah were doing. Did they miss you? Or were you a traitor to them, you didn’t care about Dutch . He could go jump in a lake and stay in it for the rest of his life. 

Pulling the blanket up placing it right under your head, you wished that Colm was here, you felt so lonely in the house…But you luckily didn’t have to feel blue for too long. The door downstairs opened, and you heard footsteps, coming up the stairs. It was Colm, you recognized how he sounded when walked. Colm placed most of his weight on his heels, and placed down his feet determined, as all his steps were already planned ahead. 

You decided to tease him, so you closed your eyes and pretended to be asleep. Colm walked right past you into the bathroom though, and seemed to prepare for bed too. Dammit, you thought to yourself, so you laid on your side on the bed, pushing out one your legs from the covers, you had this weird knot in your stomach, you were horny for him. His hugs and kisses were starting to get to you, were you ready to go further? 

The voices in your head were talking to you, but they sounded so different from before, barely recognizable from before.

“Have you seen the way they all look at you?”

“He’s been staring at you with that look in his eye, all day!”

Joey cracked her neck, and it popped loudly, you were nervous, wondering if he decided to “claim” you now.. 

While you were lost in thought, you failed to notice that Colm had climbed in the bed and he was right behind you. He was kissing you at the back of your neck, nipping your skin as he dragged his teeth on your neck, and he rockhard, his member was placed firmly against your leg.

“What are you doing, silly?” You asked in a sleepy tone, whilst you turned your neck, giving him better access to your neck. “Claiming what’s mine.” Colm said as he kissed your neck and dragged his teeth deeper into your neck, marking you. “Well, aren't you eager?” You said in a voice so low, it was almost a whisper, “Have you any idea of how long I waited for this?”Colm said as he turned you towards him. “Colm started to kiss your collarbone aggressively, you felt his member pressed firmly against one of your thighs, he was leaking pre-cum, eager to get inside you. 

Colm suddenly pulled off whatever he was wearing under the cover, springing his cock free, and snaked his hands under your nightgown and stole your underwear clean off in one swift yank. But you didn’t care, something was building up inside your stomach, you needed him inside you, and were getting desperate for him.

Colm placed himself between your thighs and lined himself up against your entrance, and slowly pushed himself in, pushing in slowly inside you. But he just grunted and placed his head onto yours and then slid his head of yours, onto your shoulder and breathed heavily by your ear. You grunted back in response. And wrapped your legs around his hips, begging for more of him. Colm gripped your hips and started thrusting at a fast pace, but he was not holding back, stretching your walls firmly and hitting that spot vigorously. Panting by your ear, he started biting at your shoulder, as if he was trying to calm himself down. He wanted to go faster, but held back for some reason..

Deciding to give Colm what he desperately wanted, you grabbed him by the back, snaking your arms around his torso. You started biting him at his shoulder making him growl back at you, calling you a bastard in a teasing tone. Colm seemed to get the message, as he pushed himself deeply into you now, thrusting at a fast pace, chasing his release desperately. He just grunted, and didn’t say a word but he kept up this pace for a while, stretching you walls and making you cum hard, digging your nails into his back and kissing him fiercely. Before his thrusts started to falter a bit, he stopped suddenly and spilled his load deep inside you. 

Colm stayed still for a few moments before he picked his brutal pace again, thrusting himself right back in again. You felt some of his load dripping out of you, down your thighs, during the whole act you had not said anything but grunts and pants, you were too embarrassed to speak. What on earth were you to say anyway?

After another brutal round by Colm, he filled you up with another load deep inside you, before he slid out of you, spilling some of his load on the way out, content with what he had done. He grabbed you and placed you on his chest and started to lazily play with your hair, and kissed your forehead. “Your mine now, and only mine.” Colm said in a possessive tone. He sounded like Dutch in a way, but that didn’t matter.

“Yes, I am.” you answered back sleepily, utterly spent, and tired after your vigorous rounds. You placed your head near his heart and dragged your hand lazily against his chest. The both of you stayed like that for the rest of the night, falling asleep on top of each other, both content with the other.

You were in love with Colm…

You are not alone anymore…


	13. Not quite hello

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't spell, le shock...Also exciteing chapters ahead folks!!
> 
> Had to rewrite this chapter like 5 times, before I was somewhat happy with it.....

Joey woke up in her bed, staring at a sleeping Colm, he looked so peaceful breathing with steady and slow breaths, he sure was tired from last night. Snuggling up to his chest you heard his heart, it was beating in a steady yet calm beat, it was very relaxing to hear. Looking to you right, there was a window, it was morning. For the first time in your life, love has found you. Love hit you hard, like a bullet to the heart, but you longed for this feeling, maybe he did too?

Colm started to stir beneath you, and slowly opened his eyes, looking at you with a sleepy face, and you dared to look him back in the eye, the hardest thing in the world, besides trusting people for Joey. They looked calm, yet loving, there was really more to Colm than meets the eye. He liked it when you teased his brother, seemed to like your antics and weird sense of humor, he never said anything mean or degrading towards you. He also meant it when he said that he would never let Dutch harm you in anyway. 

How could you not like him? Your heart was racing when you saw him, warm and a strange feeling to you but a welcoming feeling. Pity that Dutch were such a damn fool, or else this would be him, perhaps if he could get his head out of his butt.

“Hey there sleepyhead.”Colm said in a tired tone, whilst rubbing your back slowly and lovingly. 

“Hey silly, you look happy.” You teased back whilst laying your head down on his chest again. “Got anything planned for today?” 

“Yeah, I have to get some things done with my brother.” Colm said as he started to rise from the bed, making you fall off his chest. “I think I’ll be gone most of the day, but you could go to a town with Bella with some boys to watch over you.He walked towards his clothes, that were all around in the room, and started to get dressed.

“I was thinking that I could go to Valentine, see if I can get the material for that body armor I promised you and your brother. There is a blacksmith there by the stables, I think he might have the items I need.” Joey answered back, hoping your statement to be true and that the items you needed were there. “Besides, I think Bella wants to stretch her legs anyways.”

Colm only grunted back in response, but you seemed to have convinced him about your planned trip to Valentine. “Alright but take this with you, just in case.” He threw his green neckerchief to you. You were truly his now, having his colors and all, your heart was racing, the feeling was still so alien to Joey, but still a welcome one. 

The 2 of you got dressed and ate breakfast together, Colm fixed his neckerchief firmly on your neck, clearly marking you as his.

Stepping outside eager to go to Valentine, Colm surprised you with a kiss to the back of your neck before wandering off to the saloon where his brother was. So there you stood by your horse, red as a tomato, but luckily there was no one around to see your flustered face. Thinking back to last night, you hoped that Colm didn’t get you pregnant. He really went at it last night, and had left a few visible hickeys at your neck, but you got him back to, giving him a big love bite on his shoulder. It wouldn't surprise you if he was bragging to his brother or even the boys right now. But whatever, it is what it is here, you thought to yourself. 

Mounting Bacchus, you rode to Bella’s house and meet here at the door, it seemed that she was heading out somewhere too. “Hi Joey, nice to see you. Going somewhere today?” Bella asked in a happy tune, she was a ray of sunshine this woman, always positive, unlike your grumpy self. 

“I was planning to go to Valentine and get some material, perhaps some window shopping too, you?” You asked her back. “Oh I was planning to go there too, but we gotta have some of the boys with us, or else our men are going to throw a hissyfit and come running after us.” Bella said back, whilst mounting her gypsy cob.

“Okay, so how many, and who are coming with us?”

“At least 3, I would say, now that you're coming with me.” Bella said as she turned her horse towards the bridge out of Thieves Landing, you followed her and spurred Bacchus on to the bridge. “Kieran, Brian and Monty will join us today.” Bella said as she turned her head back, and sure enough there were 3 men on top of their horses following you. Where were they 2 minutes ago? 

So the group of you rode towards Valentine, seeing the scenery and the beautiful nature that there was by the small roads. It was much prettier in West Elizabeth then the dry, hard dessert you’d been at the past week. You took the roads past Downes farm, but the place was not built, it was just an empty patch of grass, it was a huge relief, knowing that Arthur could not get the horrible disease that Tuberculosis was. 

What an realief indeed…

Arriving at Valentine it looked the same as before, well maybe a few more buildings in the back by the stable. But besides that it was the same, mud and dirt. Looking around you, there were a few people looking at the group of you. It would seem that the O’Driscolls were just as feared here, as in Armadillo, and you had that green thing on your neck..

Convenient indeed..

Bella had a green scarf on her wrist to show people which gang she rode with, Joey hadn't noticed it until now. “Alright, I’m going to the blacksmith to get some materials, where are you heading Bella?” You asked her, as you dismounted Bacchus and hitched him by the hotel with the others. 

“I’m heading towards the general store to get some items, then I’m heading towards the gunsmith to pick up a few orders and ammo.” Bella said whilst reading from a note she had in her hand. Bella wandered off to do her errands with 2 gang members following her, leaving you with good ol Kieran Duffy.

Oh, how you had missed that stuttering cute man..

Kieran looked at Joey, red as a tomato in the face, he seems terrified of you right now.”Well, nice to meet ya again Kieran, I take it that you missed me right?” You teased whilst grabbing him on his shoulder, dragging him to the blacksmith.

“O-of course I have, miss I-i still didn’t thank you properly for that.” Kiearan managed to stutter out, whilst hesitantly following you to the blacksmith. “But your Colm’s now, if I do something to anger him, he’ll kill me.”

“Nope, he won’t because I'll hit him first before he does. Also there is one thing you can do if you want to repay me, it’s easy for you, because you’re talented in this area.” You said to him in a slightly sing-song voice, trying to make him relax a bit. 

“A-and what’s that, miss?”

“You know that lake by Strawberry, by the side that has the forest and up a few hills on that side,see there’s a blood bay arabian that I want you to tame for me there, it should be easy for a horseman like you.” You said whilst poking him playfully in the ribs, making him giggle a bit in the process. 

“I can do that. Heard rumors about a horse up there, I can go after you've finished your business, it’s on the way back anyway.” Kieran said confidently after he stopped giggling after your vicious attacks on his ribs. 

After telling Kieran what to do, you talked to the blacksmith and managed to get all the items you needed to make an perfekt body armor. It was a little heavy getting all the things loaded up on Bacchus and Kieran's horse, but you both managed. As you started to finish the packing up, you saw Uncle, Arthur and some of the girls come into town on a wagon, singing and being happy. It was just like the game now, but slightly different, they parked their wagon by the stables, then they scattered in the directions you remembered. 

Arthur and Uncle had just wandered out from the corner where he parked the wagon, when he suddenly seemed confused, grimaced and recognized you. 

“Joey?”

Dammit, what were you to do now, you thought to yourself,pushing Kieran behind you. Thank god, that you had your guns back in case things turned south. 

“Hello old friend, I take it you all missed me?” You answered back Arthur, slightly less confidently then you had hoped for. 

“Have you got any idea how much we searched for you? We lost Javier searching for you. We almost saved you in Armadillo, before that damned Murdoch got to you before us.” Arthur said in an angry tone, walking towards you in long strides and standing in front of you. “Whatchu’ got on your neck? Did they force you to join them?” Arthur asked as he touched the neckerchief, and realising that you had someone behind you by now.

“Get out of here O’Driscoll, before I put a bullet in ya head!” Arthur roared at Kieran, pushing him to the ground in the process, angry Arthur is not someone to be messed with. He saw the hickeys on your neck and grimaced angrily at them, it only seemed to make him angrier.

“Yeah I heard about Javier, and get your hands off. I’m not coming with y'all to wherever you have your camp now.” You said back in a hissed voice, pushing Arthur away from you, hell no, you are not wandering back to Dutch when you had finally found someone who cared for you. 

“What’cu mean, have you suddenly become an O’Driscoll now?”

“Perhaps..I don’t know it’s a bit complicated..” You said back quietly, looking at Arthur with a hurt face, this hurt him, if only it wasn't Arthur that stood in front of you, if it was Bill or someone else it would be so much easier. 

The 2 other gang members that had followed Bella, had suddenly returned back at the hotel, and they were not too happy with Arthur being there, he was still Dutch’s lapdog in their eyes. 

“Look what we got here, Dutch’s lap dog, are ya here to steal from Colm?”

“Ya, she’s with us and she’s Colm’s now” 

Arthur looked at you with a face so hurt, it would make hell freeze over. He didn't seem to want to believe their words, they were so wrong in his ears.  
“Colm’s?” Arthur whispered and looked between you and the other boys. 

Realising that you now had a chance to run off, since Arthur had moved away from you to face the others, you mounted Bacchus quick as lightning and kicked Arthur to the ground from your horse.

“Get away from me, and tell Dutch to go to hell!” Joey yelled back to Arthur riding past him in a fast gallop as the others of the O’Driscolls followed you, Bella and Kieran included. But they sent Arthur a parting gift before they left, a shot to his lower leg. 

“I need you Brian and Monty to do me a favor.” You said as you rode away from Valentine stopping near where Downes farm should have been placed.

“What’s that then?” 

“I assume there are more boys around Valentine,yes?” You asked them whilst steering your horse to the direction of Valentine again, just to show them what you meant. 

“Yeah, what about it?”

“You see, there is this lady called, Mary Linton, that Arthur likes, rents a room by a big house just behind the stables, you know the house?”

“Yeah, we do, we were planning on checking it out, what about that Mary you mentioned?” Monty asked as Brian joined him, both turning their horses towards you. 

“Rob the house, take what you want, then do as you wish with that Mary, just make sure that she dies,heck feed her to the pigs, when you're done for all I care.” You said with a sneer as you pointed in the direction of the house. 

Brian and Monty were smiling at each other, with an evil glare glowing in their eyes. What Joey just said to them was music to their ears, their language in a way, this was what they lived for after all. So why not use them for your benefits? You always hated that Mary, using Arthur and getting away with it, no not this time. This time she pays in blood, you were certain that she existed here in this time, after all, Arthur and the others were arriving here like they did in the early stage of the game, which has to mean that that “thing” Mary was alive. So to spare Arthur from further pain, you got the idea whilst riding away from Valentine to get rid of her, and why not let the boys do it? If they liked you, they would respect you, and by respecting you, they would obey you..

“Consider it done, boss” They said with an evil smirk on their mouths, one of them riding off towards where the other boys were in Valentine. 

Oh, this is a glorious revenge indeed, Mary, you pay in blood for what you did to Arthur...If your family burns with it, then so be it, you thought with a smirk on your face.

The ride back to Thieves Landing was uneventful, Kieran ran off, to fix the horse you told him to. The remaining guard with you and Bella pressed on, after a little while you were back in town. It seemed that Colm and Murdoch were back as well, the town was full of people. Bella rode to her house, Joey rode towards her’s, hitching her horse and grabbing all of her supplies for the body armor you had planned to make. Kieran would return later with the other half as he had some on his horse too. 

“There you are, got everything you needed in town?” Colm asked as he came around the corner of the building, standing behind you and hugging you, putting his head on your shoulder. “A few of the boys are missing, did you run into something?” Colm said as he continued hugging you, sneaking a hand under your shirt and massaging your belly.

“Bumped into Arthur in Valentine, either Brian or Monty shot him in the leg, then I sent Kieran to grab a thing for me. Then I don’t know which one of the other boys went off to send Arthur a fine gift I came up with. You answered Colm back, leaning into his touch, aiming your head towards him.

“What kind of gift?”

“Oh, just killing a girl he’s sweet on, that lives in Valentine, you get some money out of it though.” It was not quite true, but it was close to it. You grabbed the hand he haid on your stomach and started rubbing it slowly. “He tried to force me back to Dutch, so I got a bit angry and decided to take something from him.” You said in a voice that sounded so evil, so fake of feeling that satan himself must have a coughing fit down in hell.

“Hmm, I knew you had it in you.” Colm said as he started kissing your neck hungrily. ”I knew you could kill someone.” Colm was getting excited, and poking you. Surely pitching a tent in his pants behind you. 

Colm liked it when you were evil? Why, obviously not a surprise, heck he even got hot and bothered by it. But you had plenty more schemes and plans for the future, some of them were nasty, evil, despicable, and maybe even downright terrifying. But you didn’t care, you would save the ones you cared for. If the others didn’t want to be saved? Then they would either get left behind or stepped on hard.

There was no other way…

“So, aren’t you going to tell me how that mine job went? Bella filled me in with some details, but let’s go out, just the two of us and just talk and gossip. You turned in his arms and hugged his shoulders nibbling his neck, and biting at his earlobe, getting a grunt back in response. 

“Went fine, lost no one, the miners never knew what hit them.”

“Well I was going to surprise you with a thing..” You said in a teasing tone whispering into his ear.

“Then tell me the surprise then.”

“No, I don’t want you to know just yet..let’s take a ride somewhere for the rest of the day.”

“Big tease.”

“You know it.”

So the two of you got on your horses and rode towards Strawberry. Colm was at the front leading the way, as you arrived in Strawberry you saw that there were a few gang members going around town, greeting Colm as you passed them. The both of you hitched your horses by the big building next to the post office, it said it was a bar and hotel now. You were curious you couldn't enter this building in the game, as the both of you went inside it became suddenly very loud. That was because some of Colm’s favorite boys were inside the Saloon and were happily greeting their boss, maybe they hadn't seen each other in a while?

“Seamus, William!” Colm shouted as he went over to his friends, grabbing a beer from them. “Haven’t seen the both of you since Tumbleweed, what have you been up too, boys?”

“This and that, boss, heard about that job on the mine by Gaptooth Breach, went as smooth as silk, that’s what I heard.” One of the men said, he was a rather tall man, but skinny, reminded you a lot of Cleet in a way, but had a little more meat on him.  
“Well I was going to meet you by the ranch, but I got sidetracked..” The man beside the skinny man said. “Got a nice wound to my leg, that I had to treat, a present by yours truly.” He said whilst pointing at you. 

The 3 of them turned to you for a brief second, before Colm looked at the nasty scar you had given the man. It was a long scar, went straight along his leg almost from the knee to the ankle, but didn’t look too bad, it seemed like a simple flesh wound. 

“Spurs?” Colm asked the man looking at the man, and sipping his beer.

“Yes, and a kick to the stomach, at least that’s what William told me.”

“Yep, poor Seamus here got a nasty one from your lady here.” William answered whilst he was drinking his beer, glaring at you a bit, with a scowl on his face. Clearly Seamus and Brian were best friends, and you hurt one of them..

Crap…

“Joey, you can’t go cutting people's legs off with spurs.” Colm scolded you, walking back to you and dragging you with him towards the table with Seamus and William.

“Go on, apologize to Seamus.” Colm said with a stern face, holding you by his side so you couldn't slink away.

Great, now I am in the spotlight, you thought to yourself. Hating every second of this and wanted this to be done. Swallowing your anger and nervousness. 

“Sorry Seamus, I was aiming at your throat, I’ll get it next time.” You hissed back at Seamus, yeah next time you would kill someone, why not? You thought to yourself. 

The 3 of them dropped their faces before they started laughing at your insult, or you it was so hard for Joey to understand humor sometimes. 

“Damn you got a mean one boss, be careful so she doesn't kill you in your sleep!” William bellowed with a snort, before he started drinking his beer again. 

“You stay away from my throat lady!” Seamus half screamed back at you, at least he seems highly unsettled by your comment. 

Colm just laughed with his boys, before the both of you went upstairs in the Salon. He found a seat by a sofa and gestures for you to sit in his lap, beer in hand. So you did, sitting in Colm’s lap he wrapped his arms around you, and placed his head on yours, making you feel safe. It had been so long since someone held you like this, it felt nice to have someone to hold your nerves back again. Joey hadn't told Colm about how much you had been struggling with your nerves and temper. Somedays it was so hard to not snap at someone, to tear them to shreds, then there times when you struggled with even putting a sentence together or even getting out of bed. The voices in your head had been strangely chatty as of late, whispering dark and secret desires you had wished for, then other times it whispered comforting things that you desperately needed to hear. 

But they all went silent when Colm held you like this, it was like a sacred silence, the eye of the storm. A temporary release, but the anger was still there, clawing and biting under your skin, like a tiger that desperately wanted a release. It was so hard to keep the anger at bay, you had nothing to vent your anger on, and ripping Colm’s boys to shreds was not something you could do.The only thing you could do was to suppress it in your body, poisoning you in a way, making you weak.

“What’s wrong, you seem so tense?” Colm asked in a concerned tone, drinking his beer and nuzzling your head. 

“It’s just that thing that happened in Valentine...don’t like that they are still looking for me..” You half lied to Colm, the gang was surely at horseshoe overlook by now, but you couldn't send the Colm’s boys on them. Sean, Lenny, Hosea, heck even Micah and some of the other boys they could get hurt or killed, and you wanted to save them or most of them from Dutch if you had the chance. Wanting them to be safe, maybe you could convince a few of them to join the O’Driscolls?

Maybe….

You had to try at least…

“Yeah, the boys filled me in with that story, getting mighty tired of Dutch, maybe you can think up some plan to get rid of him?” Colm asked you as he held you closer to his body, so close that you heard his heartbeats, calming you down more. Melting some of your anger away..

“Well, a man like Dutch hates 2 things, to be wrong and to be humiliated, so what do you want to do with him?” You asked Colm in a tired voice, slowly falling asleep to the sounds of the sounds of his heartbeats.

“Lemme think about that….” Colm said with a cheerful voice, surely a grin on his face, but you couldn't see it.

Because you were already asleep against his chest, finally safe…

Because of him…...


	14. Sinister plans ahead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It be getting real now folks..
> 
> Can't spell as usual..

“I have it!”

“This is how we do it!

You opened your eyes, head filled with plans. Good god, you were on fire, where was Colm? You had to tell them your ideas, they were positively dripping with fire and potential. But where were you? This wasn't Strawberry, oh right you fell asleep against Colm again last night. He must’ve carried you home back to your house in Thieves Landing. How on earth did he manage to do that by himself anyway?

Turning your head, you saw Colm lying besides you, he was awake, and was stroking your cheek lovingly. This feeling of being ain’t too bad you thought to yourself. Leaning into his hand, you leaned forward to his head and nuzzled him. 

“I got some plans that involve us generally making Dutch’s life hell, wanna know them?” You asked in a tired tone, still not fully awake, but eager to tell him your ideas.

“That’s why you fell asleep against me yesterday, again?” Colm said in a slightly flirty tone, moving his hand from your cheek to your head, petting it in a way. 

“Yes, and no, I was tired, but go get your brother and some of your favorite boys, these ideas I have are really good, and I don’t wanna repeat them again, in case I forget something. '' You said in an excited tone, positively bursting with eagerness to tell them your plans.

“Alright, alright, eager ain’t cha? Must be a really good plan if you're this eager.” Colm teased back as he rose from the bed, pulling you up with him. 

“Oh, it’s a good one!”

You might say it positively…

Wicked…

It took a few minutes, but Colm and Murdoch had gathered up some of their most reliable boys, all of them deadly and skilled in various areas. All of you were gathered in the warehouse, the same room where Javier was beaten by an inch of his life, ironic in a way. But you were eager to get all your ideas out of your head, almost going mad with the details. 

“So what’s these ideas you have then?” Murdoch asked you, whilst Colm and the others of their favorite men also turned their head towards you, eager or bored, you couldn't decide yet. 

“It’s 2 plans, but they are connected with each other, both are important if the other is to work. “ You said to Murdoch whilst sitting down on a box next to Colm.

“Alright then, tell us the plans then”

“Very well, first plan. You are aware that Dutch and his pet monkeys are at Valentine right now, yes? Well, they are soon moving out to Rhodes, they are going to try and rob 2 families of gold they don’t have. You are going to get 1 family under your thumb, the Gray’s, they’re stupid and stuck in their ways.” You said in a stern but clear tone to make sure that everyone got it.

“Why the Gray’s?” Colm asked in a curious tone, trying to get where your point was.

“Easy, the Gray’s rule Rhodes, by being the law, control them and you own the local law. I’m sure that Dutch and Hosea will try to charm their way in with the law and play them for information, so you’ll use the law against them, get them to tell you what they're doing, by getting their families, threatening to kill them, the usual. Then there’s the other family, the Braithwaithes, they are maybe even worse but just ignore them for now.” You said to them, trying to get them to get your hint 

Then men nodded and some mumbled, it seemed that they got your message.

“Then what?” Colm asked you.

“We sit back and watch them fail, they are looking for gold that doesn't exist, that’s why the families are at each other's throats and some history from the past. So if we control the law you can certainly push them against Dutch’s favor. In a way they are walking into a trap, and we can watch them in town, some can hide in the general store, and in the basement of the gun store, others can hang out in the big saloon and watch them, but dressed as normal townsfolk. We’ll be watching them all, hearing and stealing their scores right under their noses, and if they get in the way we just set the law on them.” 

Now the men started to get what you were trying to say to them. The plan was to spy on them, by using the Gray’s against them, and if they talked about scores, your new gang would be there before them, stealing it under their noses, ironic in a way.

“Clever, we’ll be stealing their scores under their noses, that won’t know what hit them, boss!”

“Clever, it could work, boss.”

“Alright say we do this and it all works out, what was your second plan?”

“Oh the next one is even better, you know the bank in Saint Denis, yes? You are going to rob it, by going through the roof. By disguising some of the stronger boys as builders, during the day they’ll be ripping a hole in the roof just above the vault, then once their done we’ll lower them into the bank at night stealing the money, but there’s a twist in it though.” You said as you leaned yourself forwards, resting your back a bit, whilst cracking it.

“And what’s that then?” Colm asked, but he seemed eager to know your plan.

“Well only steal very little at first from the vault one gold bar, and get to know how much money and gold bars that are in the bank. Then we’ll fill it with fake gold bars and fake money, and patch up the hole in the roof of course, covering our tracks.”

“Why would we do that?” Murdoch asked you, a bit skeptical.

“Because, I can guarantee you that Dutch will hit that bank in the near future. So why not pull a good prank on him, by filling the bank with fake gold and money. Knowing Dutch, he will go in there guns blazing, which will fail guaranteed, too much law. When he does he’ll find nothing but the law, who will still blame them for the robbery, and hunt them down for the money, and you’ll get away with it. Having the front seat to see Dutch lose his head.” You answered Murdoch back, eager to know what they all thought of it. 

All of them were quiet, thinking and pondering what you said. Some were smiling and others grumbled trying to think if it was doable, until they started talking.

“That’s genius, it will be a little hard of course, but it is a very good plan.” Murdoch said with a smile, at least you had one on your side, now you needed Colm and a few more.

“I’m in”

“Yeah, me too.”

“I’m in if Colm’s in too.”

Now there was only Colm left, and he seemed to be still thinking about it though, weighing in the pros and cons, perhaps?

“Sure, let’s do it, but I might want to change or add a few things though.” Colm finally answered after being quiet for a little while. 

“Sure, I was planning to find their camp and pull pranks on them anyway, just to make sure that they're extra miserable.” You said whilst shrugging your shoulders, you were stiff, and exhausted in your head after spilling out so much information at once. 

Colm, Murdoch and the other men walked out of the warehouse, eager and seemed to love your plans as they started talking to other gang members as soon as they got out. You and Colm walked back to your house, stopping by the hitching post, you saw that the arabian you sent Kieran after was hitched to the post, you’re present for Colm.

“I forgot to ask you, whose horse is that?” Colm asked as he looked at the beautiful blood bay arabian, seemingly interested in it for the moment. 

“That’s the surprise I was talking about yesterday, sent Kieran out for it. It’s yours, it thought it was more your style.” Joey answered as you walked behind Colm and hugged him.

“Mine?”

“Yes”

Colm walked up to the arabian, seemingly pleased with his new horse, patting its neck. It was a fiery stallion, and it seemed interested in it’s new master. 

“Hell of a gift, Joey”

“Go on, what are you going to name him? It has to be something noble, after all it’s an arabian.” 

“Well, I think I’ll go with..Brutus, seems to fit him.” Colm answered whilst petting his new horse.

“Murdoch is going to be jealous, but not to worry, he can steal that turkoman that I know the Braithwaithes have.”

“You really have a plan for everything don’t you Joey?” Colm teased you, as he mounted Brutus, eager to try him out. “Might as well try him out and rub it in my brothers face already.” Colm answered with a wink, and rode off to find his brother. 

You had won a major victory today, they were going through with your plans, Dutch is doomed, because you already knew what he was going to do, but there could be some slight changes in some areas. But Joey was determined to make Dutch to look like a total and utter fool. Then you maybe could save the others worth saving during all this chaos and malice that you were sending their way. 

You had to try..

And you were determined to succeed..

It had been a busy few days for Joey. Working out how the body armors should be for Colm and the others. It took quite a bit of work, before you finally got a decent design that you were relatively pleased with. The new and improved armor protected the shoulders, upper torso and could withstand almost all bullets, except the worst blast from shotguns and explosive ammo, but it still was a vast improvement from before for most people. After you were satisfied with the design. Joey had shown the smartest gang members how to make one, who in return showed others how to make one for themselves.Colm’s and Murdoch’s were made by you, customized to make them stand out. Murdoch’s armor had a skull with a snake coiled around the skull painted on, just to make it special. Colm’s was a bit more personal, it was a huge tiger that was in a charging stance painted on his. It came out better than you thought it would, and he loved it, he did kiss you in front of his brother after receiving it, making you pink in the face, and being teased by Murdoch and Bella for 2 days after that happened. 

But it was worth it, receiving such appreciation was still unfamiliar to you, but you were slowly getting used to it. It felt good to be so appreciated. Today was the day though, the day where most of the gang were going to Rhodes and take Gray's house, and force the law to do their bidding, or they would lose everything precious to them. Which were their families, even though these people were not too far from the savage scale, they still did care about their families in an odd way, still not quite natural but it worked for your plans ahead.

The gang was ready to leave Thieves Landing and head to Rhodes. It was still a bit of a journey but the gang could make it in a day. The wagons were loaded, filled with supplies and ammo. Colm was atop his new horse Brutus, Murdoch was green with envy for that. It was not like everyone had an arabian around, it was considered a breed for the very wealthy. But Colm just teased his brother, “Just because my woman knows how to treat me, doesn’t mean you can get all jealous about it.” He had said to his brother, but Murdoch had just scoffed and pouted, utterly hilarious to Joey. If only Murdoch knew that you had planned to steal a fine turkoman for his in the near future, poor man.  
The gang was ready, and started the journey towards Rhodes. Bella and you were on your own horses, she seemed excited about the plans ahead. Colm and Murdoch were in the lead, deciding the route ahead, Bella and you were in the middle, the lion’s den in a way, surrounded by many men protecting the both of you, armed to the teeth and now protected thanks to you, so they were now extra deadly. 

As you neared Rhodes after travelling most of the day on the road. Colm and Murdoch stopped the gang near Clements point.

“So here’s what we are going to do boys, we are going to hit the Gray’s house by night and take them by surprise, Seamus and Willian, you are our snipers, take out their guards in the fields.” Murdoch said whilst moving off to the side with Colm, it seemed like they didn’t want you to hear the plan. You were not invited to the party, yet again. They moved off further, eventually so far away that you couldn't hear them.

Sigh...yet again you were left out from a job you had planned for them. 

“So I take it that we just wait here till they're done, yet again Bella?” You asked as you sighed loudly, annoyed that you were left out your own plans, yet again. 

“Yes, but don’t take it personally, they just don't want us getting hurt Joey, we are their most prized possessions after all. But I understand that you are frustrated, and heard that you are quite the shot.” Bella said in a kind tone whilst turning towards you with a warm smile, trying to cheer you up a bit. 

“Y’know, it was so long ago since I used my guns, that they are starting to get dusty!” You sighed, as you looked down at your holster, these fine guns you had, were indeed very unused. 

“Don't worry, you’ll get the chance to shoot someone soon enough, considering your plans ahead.” 

“I better get a chance soon, or I’ll shoot the ugliest guy in camp, but in the foot, so I’ll have some fun left in the future.” Joey pouted, leaning forward in the saddle, almost laying on Bacchus' neck. “I’m bored, can’t we just go crazy and blow them all up?” You teased Bella.

“Nope, we just have to wait for now.”

It was a long wait ahead for the both of you.  
Having to wait for so long at a temporary small camp, you fell asleep on a small cot you had placed in your tent. Waiting is boring, and you were cut out from the fun again. Angry and tired, you were out in minutes. Who knows how long you were out?  
But it had to have been for a while, because Colm was waking you up. 

“Huh?” You opened your eyes, blinking away the sleep from your eyes. Colm was sitting next to you on the cot, and looking quite pleased. 

“Got the house, turns out that the local sheriff was living there too, so we had a nice chat with him. Had to kill one of his sons to make him listen to us, but we managed to beat some sense into his skull. We actually killed most of the Gray’s, except the useful ones, and some young boy, so it won’t look too suspicious for the town.” Colm said in a pleased tone, apparently your plan worked out fine, maybe even too good? 

“Mhm, good then we just wait for Dutch and make sure he fails, should be fun to watch.” You awnsered as you began to stretch a bit, stiff from that stupid cot you had sleept on. 

“Sure will, it's the first for me, to wait and watch for someone for that long, but I think it’ll be worth it, after all he’ll be so mad once he finds out that we played him for so long.” Colm said with a small laugh, a smile showing on his face. It seemed a bit different for his normal point and shoot ways, but you would make sure he would be patient. The end result would be glorious after all, everything was falling into place.

All they had to do was to wait..

“Well, I guess I have to teach you patience, but trust me one that it’ll be worth it in the end.” You teased him and turned on the cot, facing him, rubbing his hand lovingly. 

“Yes you have to, also one of the boys told me that that girl you sent them to kill in Valentine is dealt with, got us a fine sum to, 1000 dollars.” Colm answered as he pressed your hand back, in a soft and loving way. 

“Come here, you big silly” You teased as you pulled him onto the cot, moving over a bit so he could fit, it was a bit of a squeeze for the both of you. 

“I ain’t silly, you are Joey” Colm said as he nuzzled into your head. He was tired and it was still maybe early in the morning, so he had earned some rest.

“Silly, insane, and fabulous to the nails and proud of it, deal with it” You teased back as you grabbed off his arms, laying it across your waist. You felt Colm smile against the skin of your neck; your silly words had quite the effect on him.

“Fabulous?”

“Yepp, and so are you.”

“I love you, silly woman.” Colm said against your neck, giving you goosebumps at those 3 words. 

He just said the 3 words, no one has ever said that to you. Joey’s heart was almost jumping out her chest, heart racing, pupils dilating. Shallow breaths, hard to breath, hard to comprehend the words he just said. He loved you, and you and you felt the same.

“Well I love you more then, can’t have you beating me here!” You said as you snuggled back into Colm a bit, showing him how you felt a bit.

“Guess I gotta pay my brother 20 bucks now, he called it, damn bastard.” Colm mutterd against your neck, not in an angry way though, but losing to his brother was a big ouchie to him apparently.

“Lemme guess, he knew how I felt towards you and told you to tell me?” 

“Still too sharp for me, but yeah he did and now I owe him money. 

“Ohh I know just the thing. Show me to his tent, and I’ll show you.” 

“Alright”

The both of you got up from the cot, you hurried to your horse saddlebags, in a part of the bag you had placed various items you had planned to use for pranks. It was time to use one of them, grabbing two mouse traps you had in your bags. Colm and you sneaked to his brother's tent, before stopping just outside the entrance.

“Alright so what are going to do with the mouse traps?” 

“Ohh, ye of little faith. I’m going to sneak into his tent and load these two gems into his shoes and when he wakes up he’ll get a lovely reminder that he won the bet!” 

Colm almost couldn't keep his mouth shut from laughter, but he watched the surroundings and there was no one near either of you, perfect opportunity. 

“Alright go get him.” Colm whispered, as he opened his brother's tent to you. Murdoch and Bella were out cold, and his lovely boots were screaming your name. Biting your lower lip, to stifle your snickering, you tiptoed into the tent, armed with the mouse traps and put them in Murdoch boots, mission complete. Then Colm and you sneaked away to your thent and fell asleep on your cot, whilst snickering like little children to what was in store for Murdoch. 

Later that day around 12, when most of the gang was up, you and Colm included, were still waiting for the results of your pranks. The both of you were eating breakfast, some of the gang had moved into the Gray’s house, setting it up for you later, but for the moment you were at the temporary camp. 

“And he called you lazy?” You scoffed, as you sat next to Colm, so eager to hear Murdoch scream.

“Yes, such a hypocrite, ain’t he?” Colm scoffed, but he was eager to.

But you didn’t have to wait for too long anymore, as you heard a scream so loud it would wake the dead in Sepulcro. 

“GAHH! WHAT THE HELL?!! JOEY!!!”

Colm and you, as well as several gang members fell over laughing, almost choking on your breath, and crying tears of joy, oh god it was so worth the long wait. But an angry Murdoch was storming towards you and Colm. He looked like he could kill the both of you with just his glare alone.

“What the hell Joey?!” Murdoch yelled, as you tried to catch your breath from all your laughing.

“Totally worth it, I told Colm that you needed some exercise and that this would inspire you!” You lied to Murdoch, as you were shoving a laughing Colm in the ribs to make him get the hint.

“Worth it, 20 bucks well spent, and look at you brother, first time I’ve seen you move this fast in months!” Colm managed to cough up, as he too was struggling to breathe as he was dying of laughter as well. 

“Damn idiots, the both of you!” Murdoch yelled, and kicked Colm at his leg, but Colm didn’t seem to care one bit. It was totally worth it to the both of you. 

After this lovely prank you and Colm grabbed your items, and went towards your new home, the Gray’s mansion. Murdoch gave you both a couple of venomous glares, Bella gave you thumbs up. Some gang members cheered you for your prank when Colm or Murdoch wasn't around to hear. 

It was a larger house with big rooms. Murdoch took a room by one side of the house, a big master bedroom.Colm found an equally big, nice bedroom only slightly smaller a few doors down from his brother's room. But it was just as luxurious as his brother's room, wooden panels, a big bed and a bathroom for the both of you, wardrobe, sofa, the lot. 

It took a few hours to settle everyone in, you had to be careful after all. No one wanted to spoil the plans you have made up to ruin Dutch after all. So everyone knew what to do, took their places and waited for the Dutch’s gang. The gang’s morale was extremely good, all were eager and waiting. Some were hiding in Valentine and checking for the others, just to make sure that everything went as planned. Turns it did go as you said it would. 

Dutch didn’t rob Cornwall in this timeline, but he did get into trouble with the law anyway. Something about some stolen cattle from Emerald Ranch, that they had tried to sell in the cattle market in Valentine. So they had to make a quick exit out of there.

Brushing your horse, you had decided to check the area that you were sure Dutch would use as a campsite. It was going to be a quick peek just you, no one else. Mounting Bacchus, you rode a secret way out from the Gray’s land, you had the law in check after all so you were safe, for now.

Riding Bacchus swiftly and stealthy, you reached that area where those twins were, Cliff and Clive? You couldn't quite remember their names, but it didn’t matter now. Dismounting your horses, you hid him in the trees and started sneaking on foot towards your spot. It was risky, but you had to know if they were there yet.

So you sneaked, and slithered into the direction you had set in your head. Until you finally had reached your spot. They were there! Looked like they had just arrived, so there were no guards around yet, you decided to listen in a little bit. 

“Of all them damn things you could steal Marston, you steal branded cattle?!” Arthur roarared to John, he seemed pissed at John, clearly he had made some stupid plan, again, you just rolled your eyes.

“How was I supposed to know that one cow was branded out of the 20 we stole?” John roared back at Arthur as he started to unpack and fix his things. 

“You told me that you had it covered!”

“Morgan’s right Marston, you told us you had it covered!” 

“Shut up Micah, this doesn’t concern you!”

“It does when we have to run for our lives when you piss a town of for your stupid misstakes again!” 

“Boys, that’s enough, we have to get into town to get a scope on things. But this time, no one is allowed to stir up any trouble or shoot anything unless I say so, is that clear boys?” Dutch said as he wandered between Micah and John, making them stop with what they were doing. 

“Yes, Dutch.” Micah and John answered, looking into the ground and mumbling.

“Hosea, Arthur we head into town, while Miss Grimshaw and the rest set up camp, while we're gone. Trelawney said that there could be money in this town, something about the 2 big families here having gold.” Dutch said as the 3 of them mounted their horses and rode off to Rhodes.

Deciding it was too risky to stay any longer, you slithered away as fast and stealthy as you could, mounting Bacchus and deciding to follow Dutch from the distance. Considering what they ran away from in Valentine, they still seemed to be in good spirits. They had stopped at the train tracks, as they were talking to a bruised and sore Leigh Gray, he was on that prison wagon, with that weird deputy of his, you remembered him to be quite odd. 

Moving in closer, by the side of the train track you hid in the nearby forest, to make sure that no one saw you. Joey couldn't hear them but you knew what Dutch was doing. He was talking and lying to the sheriff, to make him appear to be friendly and kind, just a few kind folk passing through, perhaps he used the same names as he did before? What was it now...Arthur Callahan, and ohh you couldn't remember the rest but it didn't matter. 

Suddenly Arthur dashed past the train tracks, chasing after those Andersson boys as he did before. That weird deputy was still nagging at Arthur, that his grandmother rode better than him. What a pathetic and strange man that deputy was..Dutch was still talking to the sheriff he managed to get Trelawny out, no change there either.

But you had seen all you had to see, everything was going as you had planned..

All you had to do now was to wait..

And you were willing to do just that...


	15. Plan's to save a life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can spell to save me life!! Also hot stuff ahead and Sean is baby, that's a fact folks, don't even deny it...We would all adopt him..

You thought you had managed to slink away from Gray's mansion without Colm noticing it, but it seemed that you were wrong. After you had fixed Bacchus and slinked in the house to go to your room, you were met by an unimpressed Colm by the door.

“Where were you?” Colm asked you in a stern tone, he seemed worried, or pissed, hard for you to decide.

“Just had a look to make sure everything goes according to plan. Turns out that Dutch has just arrived at Clement's point, just as I suspected.” You said, trying to play it off, not wanting to seem bothered by Colm’s comment.

“By yourself?”

“Yes, but I-”

“You are not going out anywhere near him alone, Joey! He is still out there, one mistake and he’ll get you again.” Colm scolded you in an angry tone, whilst pushing you inside your room, locking the door behind you so no one could hear your conversation. 

“Nothing happened, I had it covered, as usual.” You said as you kept wandering inside the room, trying to brush his words of you.

“You didn’t have it covered in Blackwater..” Colm scoffed, crossing his arms, seemingly a little pleased about his point there.

“Oh, so use that one time against me? I have succeeded more than I have failed, I am not perfect you know.” You sighed, as it was clear that Colm wasn't having any of it. All you did was scouting ahead. To make sure they were there, nothing too complicated. 

“I could have lost you..” Colm said as he walked up to you, hugging you tightly, he was worried about losing you. How could you be so blind? It was so obvious, yet you missed it..

The two of you stood there for a moment, hugging each other, before moving up to kisses and pulling at your clothes. Colm was eager to go, he was already poking your leg. Pushing you towards the bed, you began undressing each other as you were kissing and touching each other. Laying on the bed, Colm was kissing your stomach, whilst his hand trailed down to your legs, holding them up to his hip. “Don’t sneak off again” He whispered to you between kisses, nipping at your stomach. He was getting you as wet as a river between your legs, with all his tender kisses and tender touches. “I won’t..” You answered back, as you squeezed him a bit with your legs on his hips, you needed him. Colm moved his head away from your stomach, and began kissing and licking your wet folds, he was going to make you cum soon if he kept that up. “Stop teasing me..” You scolded him, as you pulled his head up, so it rested right on top of your entrance. “Gotta punish you for sneaking away.” Colm answered and he dived back down to lick your folds, he was driving you wild, and you came hard as he went back down. Curling your toes, and squeezing his hips harder, just to get him back a little bit. Colm just seemed pleased for making you cum with just his tongue, moving up from your entrance, he started attacking your neck, with the clear intent of covering you with hickeys. Just as you were going to scold him for being a damn bastard, Colm thrust himself inside you, with one big thrust, pushing his cock deep inside you, to the base of his cock. He stayed still for a few seconds, stretching out your wet walls with his cock, before he picked a brutal pace, hitting your spot, your hips were angled higher now. It was driving you wild, every thrust hit that spot inside you dead on, making you wanna cum much faster than usual, you just couldn't control yourself. 

But it seemed that Colm couldn't control himself either, his hips were stuttering, a signal that he was going to cum soon too. “Fuck!” Colm muttered as he buried himself as deep inside you as he could, before he painted your walls white with his seed. He wasn't finished with you yet though, picking up the brutal pace again, pushing out his previous load from your womb, as he filled you again and again.

Colm and you came 3 times more together, he wasn't making love to you, he was breeding you, marking you as his. But you felt so full, after the brutal rounds from him, that you couldn't complain. After you were done, you both laid in the bed, cuddling each other and snuggling up to one another. But he was reaching for something in a drawer by the table.

What was he doing? 

But he grabbed your hand closest to him and placed a ring on your finger. Did he just..Propose to you?

“You are going to marry me sweetheart, so you and Bella better start looking for a dress for you.” Colm said as he put his head on yours, clearly your answer wasn't up for discussion. 

“I better start practicing to write my new last name then, and the answer is yes. But others usually ask first, before putting the ring on, but hey I don’t complain.” You said to Colm as you snuggled up under his chin. 

“I already knew the answer, no need to ask, sweetheart.” 

“Guess you’re stuck with me then handsome”

“Handsome? I like that..”

“Well you are, and I need to think up the other hundreds of names I’m gonna call   
you.”

The both of you fell asleep not too long after that, holding each other firmly, as you were afraid that the other would go away. He just asked you to marry him, well in his way, but hey there was still a ring on your finger. You are getting married! In a dress! With people and music, flowers and his brother and his wife by your side.

You are getting married…

Is this what true love is, like the stories and fables write about? No, this was real, the ring was on your finger, you could feel it, so it was real.Yet you were a bit sad, your family and friends would never see you get married.. You had missed your family a little now and then, especially your father. You were always daddy’s little girl, his little diamond, could never do anything wrong in his eyes. “I wonder what dad would say/do if he saw that I was getting married to Colm? Would he say good luck and laugh or just threaten to rip his balls off if he even dares to mistreat me, or both?” You mumbled to yourself in your head. 

Morning could not come soon enough

Meanwhile at Dutch’s camp

Dutch’s pov:

“Son, did you find anything in Rhodes, that sheriff seemed..odd to say the least” Dutch said as he stood in the entrance to his tent, smoking a cigar.

Arthur was fixing up his clothes, having just woken up and eaten. “Yes Dutch, found out that there’s some feud between them Gray’s and Braithwaithes. Met a fella called Beau, wanted me to deliver some urgent letter to a girl that’s a Braithwaithe, sum Romeo and Juliet story going on between them kids.” Arthur walked over to Dutch’s tent, now fully dressed and looking presentable,scratching his chin as he stood beside Dutch.”There is something cooking here in Rhodes Dutch, it feels like something is off, you saw how that sheriff acted,he seemed on edge, to say the least.” 

“This place isn't a civilised place son, of course we will bump into people that are odd to us. Besides, we are looking for gold here, son. The both of us are going to meet up with that sheriff and befriend him, we are just kind innocent folk that are lending a hand here. Harmless, and hiding in plain sight, now that John made sure to send an army of bounty hunters after us for that fiasco in Valentine. It seems that people aren’t as stupid as I thought, people are forced to think and defend themselves after the pinkertons were wiped out.” Dutch said with a sigh as he and Arthur wandered up to their horses, mounting up.

“I’m just worried Dutch, there is something going on here.” Arthur said as he mounted up.”Aren’t we going to bring on more with us, Dutch? We could use some extra eyes.” 

“Right you are, son.”

“Micah!”

“Yes boss?”

“You are going to accompany me and Arthur in Rhodes whilst we befriend the local sheriff, and get him to spill some information about the locals.” Dutch said as he rubbed his hands together, eager to get going.

“Alright, i'm in,boss.” Micah said as he mounted Baylock, riding towards the both of the men. 

The group of them rode towards Rhodes in silence, it was a beautiful day. Not too hot, it was still a dry county and it needed some rain soon. Arriving at the sheriff's office, they were met with a drunk sheriff, yapping and hollering about some shine in dem’ woods. It seemed that they needed to do some work before they could get some information out of the deputy and sheriff. 

Riding off to deal with the moonshine problem in the woods near the swamp, they failed to notice that they were being watched, eagerly and patiently, by many eyes. That was just biding their time, waiting for the right moment. 

Joey’s pov:

Having eaten and goten dressed, you were ready to face the day, albeit a bit more lighter in your step than before. Looking at your ring Colm gave you, it was a very beautiful ring. It was made out of gold, covered in diamonds it was very similar to Bella’s ring, except for the middle, where there was a big emerald standing out boldly. Colm sure had a thing for green, you thought to yourself. Yet he was nowhere to be seen this morning neither was Bella or Murdoch, it seemed that you were on your own today. Maybe they were checking out some score? You were going to tell them to start working on the Saint Denis job today, wanting to get it prepared way ahead, the little worrywart inside you always wanted things done ahead, not after. Arthur seemed fine though, that bulletwound he received in Valentine didn’t seem to have slowed him down at all, maybe it was just a flesh wound? Shrugging to yourself, you walked over to your horse.

“Hello buddy, ready to go explore some places?” You said to Bacchus, in truth you wanted to oversee things, just to see that all went as you had planned it would. The gang was investing a lot of time on this after all. 

“Good morning Joey!” Kieran said in a cheerful tone, walking past you with a hay bale, that man was always with the horses. 

“Hi Kieran, care to accompany me for a ride? I bet Colm would explode on you boys if I went alone.” You said to Kieran, sighing a bit, you always did hate that you couldn't get a moment for yourself, even for a little while anymore. If Colm wasn't there, his boys were watching you, or Murdoch and Bella. Or Colm himself would be watching over you, and he could not keep his hands to himself when he was with you, flirting and touching you all over. But that you didn't mind that, it was endearing and cute, making your heart flutter. 

“Of course Joey, just let me fetch my horse.” Kieran said as he headed towards his horse with the hay bale, the horse neighing in excitement as the prospect of food approached it. 

“Try not to spoil every horse in camp, again!” You teased him as you mounted up on Bacchus, standing still and waiting for him.

“Very funny Joey!”

“It’s true, don't deny it!

“Well M-maybe a little bit then.”

After Kieran munted up, the two of you rode out towards Rhodes, it seemed like everything was in order here. The boys were in their places, and Dutch or the others didn’t seem to be anywhere near. Goody, you thought to yourself. Riding towards the fence, you remembered that there was a neat pamphlet about some volatile dynamite that you wanted to learn. 

“Hey Kieran, I’m just gonna buy a pamphlet by that fence, watch my back will you?” You said to him, dismounting your horse and walking up to the guy by the door.

“Whatchu need?” 

“Pamphlet, volatile dynamite to be exact.” Joey answered in a firm, not wanting to cause any suspicion from the man. 

“One minute.” The man answered you as he was rummaging through the drawer he kept behind him. 

“Why, good morning madam, what is a fine lady like you doing in a camp like this?” A voice said, didn’t that voice seem familiar to you?

“None of your business, piss of!” You hissed at the man, still not turning your head to face him. Why did he sound so familiar to you? 

“Goodness me, it’s not often I meet a madam with fire like that everyday, surely you know that there is no harm in my question?” 

“Just leave me alone, or yo-” You said being fed up by that noisy man, turning your heads towards him, now you knew why you recognized that voice..

It was that charming englishman, Josiah Trelawney, dammit. He could spell trouble for you and the plans ahead. 

“Now why should I leave a fine lady without escorting her out this dreadful camp” Trelawny said as he walked up towards you, armed with a smile and surely some plan in that head of his. 

“Fine, just one moment.” 

“Here’s the thing you wanted.” The man by the door said as he handed you the pamphlet you wanted.

Paying the man, you walked towards Kieran and your horse, Trelawnly in tow, still trying to charm you with the smooth words of his.

“W-who's that? Kieran asked as he pointed at Trelawny from his horse, not to pleased with your new “friend”.

“James Hotchkins, at your service” Trelawny said, as he made a dramatic bow in front of you, charming to most, but not to you. 

“He’s obviously a brain damaged fool, pay him no mind, we were just leaving anyway.” You said to Kieran, irritated and fed up with this unexpected situation. 

“I do say, you are not too polite, my dear. A gem like you isn’t something a man sees everyday.” Trelawney said as he walked away the two of you, a big smile on his face. You on the other hand, were flusterd and felt stupid for forgetting that Trelawney rented a caravan at this particular fence.

Mounting up and riding out of Rhodes, you decided to speak up. “Keep an eye on him, he’s much smarter than he appears to be.” You warned Kieran, Trelawney could make a painting spill it’s secret’s, caution was needed. Arriving at the forest that had a view over Clemens Point, you and Kieran dismounted and took your binoculars up, laying down and watched over Dutch’s camp.

“W-why are we watching over Dutch’s camp?”

“To make sure everything goes to plan, patience Kieran, all will be revealed in time.”

“I heard some of the boys mention that they saw Dutch, Arthur and some blonde feller ride out with that deputy.”

“Micah”

“What?”

“The blonde feller you saw, he’s name is Micah. He also happens to be a very good shot and easily angered and eager to pull his guns out at most problems. So be wary around him.” You warned Kieran, if the both of them meet face to face, Micah would surely win, but now that all gang members were protected, his odds were better, but Micah could still shoot him in the head, and it was not worth risking it with him.

“Alright, Micah. I’ll tell the others that. Do you see anything that we need to worry about? 

“Hmm lemme see here then.” You said as you scoped out the camp. The Callender boys were still alive, that was good. So were the girls, and unfortunately Abigail too. Sean was sleeping at his post, no change there either. Lenny and Hosea were having some discussions, Bill and Charles were not there, neither was John. But it seemed like everything else was in order, good your plans were going just as you planned.

“Everything seems to be in order, let’s head back before we overstay our welcome.”

Kieran and you mounted up quickly and rode off towards the camp. Taking the longer route, just to make sure that left no trail behind you. You needed to be careful now, you were so close. Stupid Trelawney, for being there just when you didn’t needed to be seen. 

Arriving back at the Gray’s mansion, Colm, Murdoch and Bella were back from whatever they were doing, you were a bit pissed off for being left out. So you were a bit angry to say the least at Colm. But they didn’t seem to notice that you were angry at them, as they sat around the main living room in the manor, chatting away and being happy. It irritated you, how can they just ignore you from their outings? Stupid humans, they don’t work proper you thought to yourself.

No, humans and you didn’t work well together, communication never was your strongpoint, that and emotions. But surely they understood that to some degree by now? You barely showed any emotions when you got cuts or were injured, you just flinched a bit and carried on. To the confusion of many in the gang, most people would at least react a little, but you just didn’t say anything unless it really hurt, but even then. it was barely a reaction. 

“There you are sweetheart, where have you been?” Colm asked as he turned his head towards you from the sofa. Drinking a beer with his brother and Bella. It didn’t matter to you if they drank and you were left out of that. But you were still annoyed. 

“Whatever..” You mumbled as you walked past them towards your room. You felt that your emotions were beginning to become out of balance because of them, needing to calm down, you locked the door to your room. 

There was some noise downstairs it seemed like someone was walking towards the door. The steps were Colm's; the patterns and sounds matched him. Heels, determined steps, walking with purpose.

“What’s with you?” Colm said, as he tried to open the door, but it was in vain, you saw to that.

“Leave” You said in a dark voice to Colm, you feel the emotions beginning to play on your mind and energy. Rest was needed, or else there would be a high cost for you, collapse or worse, total shutdown. When a total shutdown happens to you, it’s not a pretty sight. Because you would just lie down, hyperventilate, sweat, become pale as a corpse and be almost unreachable for several hours, then it would maybe take a few days before your mind and energy were back to your normal standards. 

“I won’t leave, open the door.”

Your heart was racing, it was beginning to stress you out to much this whole situation. Your small heart was almost clawing its way out your chest. Why couldn't he just leave and let you get some peace and quiet? Why don’t they understand? Your head was beginning to spin, rest was what your body was screaming for, but you couldn't get it..he denied you peace..

“Then stare at it then!” You yelled as you lied down in the bed, shutting out the noises and everything around you. The voices in your head were screaming at you again denying you peace.

“Rest! They won't let you have it you fool!”

“They will throw you away when they have what they want!”

“No one wants you!”

“Freak!”

You weren’t sure if Colm was at the door or if he left, you were exhausted after everything that had happened today. You felt weak and abandoned...you were alone again as always. Was this your curse? Eternal loneliness, forgotten. But you shut down, fed up, no more, leave us alone. Curling up to a ball and holding your knees, desperately looking for something to hold onto. How could Com ever love a freak like you? He must be mad or using you like everyone else, just to cast you away when he had what he needed. 

The door must’ve opened a little while ago, but you didn’t hear it. 

“Joey, sweetheart what’s with you?” Com asked as he sat next to you in the bed in front of your knees. Placing a hand carefully on your hip, it seemed like he hesitated a bit though. He must be disgusted by your weakness you thought to yourself. 

“You left me out again.” You managed to answer him, but it was a weak voice, barely a whisper. 

“I tried waking you up several times, but you didn't budge, so we left without you” 

“Anyone can say that, it's easy to lie.”

“I’m not lying to you, what happened to you today that has you thinking like this?” Colm asked as he moved in closer to your body, rubbing your back in a careful manner, as if he was afraid that you would break.

“I saw someone I didn’t want to see that might tell Dutch that I’m here.”

“Who?”

“A Englishman at the fence in town, called himself by some name that he made up, He’s real name is Josiah Trelawney, and he’s a magician, and a very good one to. He finds lead and information to Dutch.” You said to Colm, irritated still from having met him in town. 

“Don’t mean anything sweetheart, that’s just one person, we will still get our plans done here.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Do you know how many people that have seen me in a town before I robbed the same town? It has to be hundreds of people, if you put them altogether, that one person won’t mean anything, you are just overreacting a bit.”

“I just, it’s hard to not worry, I care too much about you and your family to mess this up.” You said sheepishly to Colm, he was right in the big picture. You were being silly. Or were you?

“I know, besides I suspected that there was something wrong today, you didn’t react when I entered the room, and you're pale again, it's the nerves again?” Colm asked as he started to rub your cheek, calming you down, your heart was slowing down now, it felt safer now. He was here after all. 

“Yes, just need some rest then I’ll be alright. Tell me where you went with your brother and Bella today?”

“We went to Saint Denis, we were checking out that bank job you planned ahead. You were right about the roof though, we tried to check with the tunnels, but we would need to blow up the floor to get in, too risky and too much law for that.” 

“That’s why I said the roof.”

“Murdoch met some Italian fella too. Some Angelo Bronte, some bigshot that thinks he owns the town, but he could be useful if we play him right.” 

“He has a hold on that town, owns the police too, be careful around that man.” You warned Colm, the memory of how he played Dutch and had indirectly gotten Hosea and Lenny killed were still imprinted in your mind, swearing to yourself to not let it repeat again. 

“Don’t worry, we know, but he is useful with information, we do him some favors and he’ll do some for us. Then we back off. “ Colm said confidently at least he was aware of what a person like Bronte could do. It calmed you down further, you were almost back to normal by now. 

“Just be carefull.”

“I will.”

Days passed and then weeks in Rhodes. Dutch had managed to do everything as he did before in Rhodes. It seemed that he was as blind and naive as before, no change there. The boys had heard about Dutch’s plan to set fire to the Gray’s tobacco field tonight. It was near when Sean died. You were not letting him die, you were going to save him, if you so had to crawl away with 15 bullets in your chest then so be it.

You were going to follow him like a shadow and save him. Even though it was almost the end of August and maybe been almost 2 months since you last saw him, you had gotten very attached to the little adorable Irishman, seeing him as the little brother you never had. You already knew what and where he was going, so it was easy to plan what to do. 

During your time in Rhodes you had snuck into Dutch’s camp a few times, with Colm following you of course, and pulled a few pranks on the gang, changing their beer’s to vinegar, putting something similar to viagra in the stew, placing a bear trap outside Dutch’s tent. He stepped in the trap apparently too, the boys had seen him limp around in town and that one prank made Colm and Murdoch smile A LOT. The best prank you pulled was when you snuck in their camp and painted Micah’s mustache pink. How he must’ve screamed and hollered at the camp, pity that you never saw the reaction. 

Murdoch and Colm seemed to have gotten quite friendly with Bronte, but you had warned them about his motives, so they were careful and wary, it was a temporary alliance if you could call it that. 

Today was the day that you would follow Sean and you were not letting him go. If you did he would be in a grave.

And that would not happen again..

No…it would not.


	16. Oh Brother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hang on Sean! Can't le spell, *dies* Shorther chapter folks..

Today was the day, everything was planned out. 

Sean was going to be saved under the cover of smoke and fire as he and Arthur were burning down the field by Gray’s mansion. Joey told them all what was going to happen tonight and to do nothing, let them think that they got away, just wait a little more, you were so close after all.

Colm and Murdoch sent some of the stronger boys to Saint Denis yesterday, they were starting with the bank job, by ripping up a hole above the vault. There had been a slight change in the plan though, you told them to patch up the roof after, but to pay some genuine builders to do it for them, after all it was going to be such a glorious outcome when everything was set up and ready. Everyone had been patient in Rhodes, hiding, listening and waiting ever so patiently, you were so very close. Your pranks in Dutch’s camp had kept the boys entertained, Colm was close to setting up a meeting with Dutch, just like in Blessed are the peacemaker’s mission. But you managed to persuade him not to.

Today you had Kieran and some new guy with you in your save Sean mission. During the weeks you had been cooped up at the mansion whilst waiting and plotting, you had been very kind and patient to the younger members of the gang. Giving them a chance, teaching them to shoot, and some clever tips and tricks on how to survive and succeed in various problems that outlaws would face day to day. It had been very successful, they were eager and good students, many thanked you for being so patient and kind to them, but you didn’t mind at all, the young deserve a break after all. There were quite a few young boys in the gang, but they had your back and were loyal to you, referring to you as boss too, it was quite cute in a way, having a deadly fanclub. 

Scoping out the Braithwaite mansion was easy, their blindspots were in the woods and by the water, if you 3 were quiet enough you could almost sneak to the front door. But you had seen Hosea and Sean pass through earlier today, you were just waiting for Arthur. It was field burning time today. Your nerves were loaded, one slight push and you would lunge at whatever set you off, this had to go right or you other opportunity was so slim, that it was almost impossible to save Sean. 

It was quite a while later until Arthur passed you by, with Sean in the wagon. Signaling Kieran and the young new guy to follow you, the trailing of them both started. Arthur jumped into the back of the wagon, and hid from the guards. Sean was spinning some tall tale to the gullible guard and led them into the barn where they killed him and waited for nightfall. Joey, Kieran and the young guy were hiding too, but in the fields by the forest, like hungry wolves, you were staring at that door, just waiting and biding your time. 

“New guy, what was your name again?” You asked, it is easier if you have their names after all.

“Simon”

“Alright, Simon and Kieran, we are going to wait until my dear old friends Arthur and Sean set fire to the fields, which will be tonight. I’ve already told the others to not do anything. Arthur will sneak around dosing the fields with that moonshine they stole, I already have told you about that right?”You said in a firm voice, if there were doubts and questions it was better it came now rather than later.

“Yes boss.”

“Yupp.”

“Very good, now while Arthur runs around in the fields Sean won’t be there with him and we won’t act, yet either.

“Why not boss?” Simon asked, he was very young, barely 20, so he was still learning about how most things worked. But you had been patient with him, Colm even teased you about mothering the young boy’s, but one slap to his head usually shut him up though. 

“Because it’s easier to get one of them when the fields are on fire, I know where they’re going, and the smoke will hide us. Also you are on an important mission, you are going to shoot the gun whilst I’m dealing with Sean.” You said as you walked up to Simon, patting his shoulder in a friendly manner. 

“Why am I doing that again boss?”

“Because whilst you're doing that, Kieran here will throw a lasso over Sean, yanking him clean of his horse. If Arthur hears a gunshot and sees a horse with no Sean on it, he will expect that Sean’s been shot, and is probably dead, easy and quick, we will hit and run.” You said whilst walking Simon towards Kieran.

“R-right boss, I can do that.” Kieran stuttered out, even though you had not shown or done anything mean towards him he always stumbled with his words. But your encouraging words seemed to have given him a lot more confidence then he had before in the game, so it was helping him. 

“Of course you can Kieran, but you’ll have one chance at this though, there’s now room for errors here, not today.” You said as you gave Kieran a lasso from your horse.

“R-right, I'll get it, just you wait and see.”

“I know you’ll both succeed both, but until tonight we watch and wait, we still have a long wait ahead. Don’t forget to get your black coats on tonight, and cover your faces, make sure that there’s no green on you, alright?”

“Yes boss.”

So the 3 of you waited until nightfall, watching the barn intently. Arthur was dosing the fields right now, Sean was in the barn prepping some fire bottles. There was a brief shootout after a little while, just as you knew it would be, the Grey’s were not warned about them, you had told them nothing, it was not important. The fields were set ablaze, the light and heat were almost unbearable, but you would not be here for much longer. People were running around trying to get the fire under control, but it was of no use. 

“Now, let’s move, see those shire’s over there? They’ll grab them since they had no horses with them when they arrived. Kieran, get ready with that lasso and do not miss, Simon you're with me, heads up boys we’ll soon get out of here.” You told them as you got into position.

“See them horse there Sean, let’s take them and get out here!” Arthur yelled as he ran towards the shire’s, just as you knew he would.

“Right behind you english, did you see the faces on dem’ fools? I tell ye I was born to burn down manors, rich fugger’s got what was comeing for them.” Sean yelled back to Arthur excitedly as he ran up to the horse, cutting it free from its harness and mounting up along with Arthur.

It was a lot of smoke around you all, almost angulfing you all, perfect you thought to yourself. You waited to give Kieran the signal until Arthur and Sean had almost ridden past the worst of the smoke and fire.

Just a little more..

And...GO!

Giving Kieran the signal, he threw the lasso right at Sean, yanking him clean of the horse, as he was dragged into the wall of smoke, covering his tracks. Simon fired his gun near where Arthur was, fooling him into thinking that Sean had been killed.

“Sean! Goddamned bastards!”Arthur shouted as he desperately searched for the source of the gunshot, but it was too late, you were all far away from him by now. As you held Sean down, silencing him behind a giant wall of smoke and fire. Another group of guards charged after Arthur, forcing him to get out of there. But he was not important now, you had what you wanted: Sean was going to live.

The 3 of you dragged a struggling Sean, towards the forest, going in deep to make sure no one saw or heard you. 

“Get off me ya fukkers!” Sean wiggled and squirmed as he tried desperately to turn his head to face you all.

“That’s quite a mouth you got there, MacGuire..” You said in a calm tone, whilst poking Sean teasingly at his head. How you had missed him, he was like a little brother you never had.

“What the hell? That you Joey?” Sean yelled, sounding utterly stunned to hear your voice.

“Yes, I missed you alot.”

“Got a funny way to show it lass! Who are deese fuggers?” Sean asked as he glared at Kieran and Simon, he didn’t know that they were O’Driscoll’s.

“These two are Kieran and Simon, good friends of mine. We are here to rescue you from Dutch, before his grand and guaranteed failure plans put you 2 meters underground.” You said whilst pointing at them, before you mocked Dutch with a sneer in your voice. 

“So it’s true then, Trelawny said he saw you with an O’Driscoll a few weeks ago. So are ye here to torture me about information before ye kills me? Is that it?” Sean said whilst sounding disappointed, he still didn’t understand yet, so you decided to tell him.

“No need, little brother”

“Brother?” Sean asked you whilst raising his one eyebrow.

“Always saw you as the little brother I never had. All I have done now is to protect you. I have been watching and looking out for you since Valentine, Sean. I know where the camp is right now. I know about how you could have died in a few days if I didn't save you right now. I never stopped caring for you brother, no matter what the others might have said about me. I want you to live. I don’t want to see you in a grave, because of Dutch’s stupidity.” You answered Sean, the words breaking your heart as you spoke them, you hoped he would understand, all you did now was to save him. The thought of seeing his dead corpse in the road in Rhodes was haunting you, it was there in front of your eyes, mocking you whilst dripping off blood.   
“Did ya shoot Arthur?”

“No, it was to make a distraction. To make him go away, I won't lay a finger on Arthur.”

Sean just sat there at the ground for a moment, digesting all you had said to him. He looked so shocked to say the least, he didn’t expect his day to end like this. But you were so happy to see him again, alive still.

“Are ye with Colm, lass?”

“Yes, and it’s a bit more than that too.” You said as you lowered yourself to his level, showing him your engagement ring. 

“De fukker wants ye to marry him?! He forced you to this didn’t he?” Sean yelled in disgust, whilst grabbing your hand, squeezing it tightly. 

“He asked me in a way. I said yes, he isn’t too bad once you get to know him Sean. Besides your big sis here will protect you. I will always look after you brother.” You said too Sean whilst you hugged him tightly, he was so small in a way. How you had missed him. That little Irish idiot could steal your broken heart any day and with ease, that little bugger. Now he was safe, he had something to protect him from death and misery..

You..

The 4 of you rode back to the Gray’s mansion, the fire had almost burned out, by now. Sean was sitting behind you, holding your waist firmly, he was afraid of what’s to happen, but he was safe, after all he had you to protect him.

“That was quite a fire..” Colm said as you were all dismounting your horses. “Who the hell is this?” He said, whilst he stepped towards Sean in a threatening way. 

“Oh that just my adoptive little brother that you won’t hurt.” You answered Colm, whilst stepping in front of Sean, protecting him. 

“Since when did you adopt people?”

“2 months ago, and you are going to be nice to Sean. Or I will kick you to China and back.” You mumbled, whilst you grabbed Sean’s one hand and led him towards the mansion, with Colm following you of course, he was not done yet. Sean was so nervous that he almost crushed your hand, poor boy.

“Who’s that?” Murdoch asked as you entered the mansion, Bella was next to him looking confused. 

“Apparently her adopted brother, since 2 months ago.” Colm mumbled, as he pushed Sean, making him stumble into you. 

“Real mature, Colm.” You mumbled to him, whilst you comforted Sean, he was terrified. 

“We don’t like having Dutch’s boys around us, that’s all Joey,” Colm said as he circled around Sean like a shark, looking for weaknesses. Murdoch just glared at Sean, he was not amused with him being there either. 

“You know that Dutch ain’t getting her back, boy.” Colm suddenly threatened Sean, grabbing him by the throat and shoving him against the wall, Murdoch joined his brother and held Sean’s head. 

“Alright that’s enough you crazy dogs!” You yelled at them, as you kicked them both behind their knees, making them lose their balance.Hugging Sean, holding him tightly against you. Acting as his shield against Colm and Murdoch.

“Just leave him alone, he will learn his place here.” 

“Fine, but I will shoot him if he steps an inch out of line.” Colm threatened Sean as he gave him a hard glare. 

“Yeah, yeah” You mumbled, putting your head on Sean’s. The poor boy was crying, his tears wetting your blouse, but he did it quietly. Comforting him, you rubbed his back, calming him down as best you could. Colm and Murdoch had wandered off somewhere. Bella was the only one left near you. She gave you a sad smile, it seemed that she understood how much Sean meant to you, as you defended him against them both, not giving either of them an inch at Sean. 

You’re safe now little brother..

A few days later…

It was a bit of a challenge to convince Colm not to kill Sean, but you worked your charms, sleeping with him, giving him back massages and charming the life out of him. It worked though, around the third day Colm wasn't too concerned about Sean anymore, but he did glare at him when he had a chance, as did Murdoch but he saw Sean as an idiot. He was probably right too, but Sean was your idiot, your adopted little brother idiot. You had gone back to Dutch’s camp to listen to what they were saying about his presumed “death” and it seemed like they thought Sean was dead but they had other arrangements to attend to. That blasted stroll into town, Bill Micah and Arthur went in, but only two came out. Bill didn’t make it, he walked the same path as Sean would’ve, so he got shot instead of him. Joey had told Sean all about it of course, he really seemed to understand what you meant about saving his life, now that you told him that Bill had perished, after that lovely stroll in Rhodes, Arthur and Micah and the others had another problem, Braithwaithes. 

Just like before they figured them all out and kidnapped someone out of the gang. This time it was Abigail, yes poor little Abi, ohh, how you hated that woman, you wanted her gone, she treated John like shit, heck she was shit. If you looked up shit in a dictionary, you'd find her face smack bang in the book, you were certain of this.

Dutch and the others had of course went over to the Braithwaithes to have a *chat*, well a big emphasis on that chat. The chat was short, less than one minute, the main house was set on fire and almost all the lovely Braithwaithe’s were dead, just as before. If Dutch just had paid attention to what he was trying to represent himself to the people in Rhodes, and not try and so sloppily try and fool two angry families, he might’ve succeeded, with your help, perhaps. But no, he went the stupid way, the same as before. 

So the gang had picked off and left for Shady Belle, just as you had told Colm and the others he would. But you were ever so patient still, the trap was almost about to go off at Dutch, but just not yet. There was still time left. 

The boys that were working on the roof above the vault in the bank, were almost done. It turns out that the supporting wood beam in the floor was rotten, so when the police came in to check up on what they were doing, they instead praised them. Making the boys mighty confused, it ain’t often outlaws get praised by the law, but they had laughed it off, finding it utterly hilarious. It was maybe a few days away from being ripped through, then you would join them and fix everything up for Dutch, ohh it would be such fun.

Colm and Murdoch knew about Bronte taking a hostage from the Braithwaithe’s. You knew where he lived and you didn’t like Abigail. She had apparently tried to sweet talk her way in John’s arms again, that vile woman. You had no idea if John liked her or not yet, but you would spare him from that cow that Abigail was, you knew exactly what you needed to do, telling Colm about your plan. He smiled, ohh he liked your plan, he was proud of you and he was going with you on this one. 

But you had to wait for John to get her out first, maybe Arthur would join him as before? Bronte had men all around the city, if someone as much as whispered his name he would know, just as before. How stupid could Dutch be if thought that a little fish like him, could swim into a big shark waters and get away? Mighty stupid is what he is, you thought to yourself. 

But you had other plans for today, you were going out with Bella you could afford to leave Sean now, he was safe the others didn’t take him as too much of a threat, and he had no guns, so he was safe with the O’Driscoll’s for the moment. You and Bella had taken a buggy to Saint Denis tailor store. Bella had gossiped to you about what they really did in Saint Denis when you weren’t there.

Turns out that Colm lied a little bit to you, damn tease that he was sometimes. Turns out that he and Bella were checking out the church and clothes for them among other things. Apparently he didn’t try to wake you at all, he deliberately slinked away with his brother and Bella. 

It was a lovely day, today the last days of August sun shining, not too hot or moist in Saint Denis today. You forgot to put up your hair today, so it was blowing with the wind as you travelled towards Saint Denis, it had grown quite a bit, past your shoulder blades. It had been a long time since your hair was so long, almost 10 years or more. Bella almost didn’t recognize you with your hair out. She said “Whoah, is that you Joey, you look so different with your hair down.” You had blushed and smiled at her comment. “It’s still me, just unleashing the little beast that is my hair, been long since I had it out.”

“So what I heard from Murdoch the other day was that we were invited to some ball at the mayor’s house, so we need to get dresses for us. You don’t have one and I don’t have anything fancy enough for a ball, so I’m doing some shopping too. I also heard that this tailor in Saint Denis has some wedding dresses in stock, maybe you will find something there?” Bella said as you arrived with the buggy near the big building that was the tailors building. 

There were some steps to climb before you reached the store. It still felt surreal to you, having never looked at a wedding dress more than just for fun at the computer at home, but here you were looking for a gown for a ball, and a wedding dress.

Strange, yet here you were..

Bella and you entered the tailor’s store..It was really happening...


	17. Hello Miss Roberts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo, we are on fire, warning for angst and graphic scenes in the chaper ahead..
> 
> Also it's getting real exciting in the chapters ahead now..
> 
> I can't spell, I blame pelican's today...

Bella and you entered the beautiful store. You were in the store you always wanted to see in the game, it felt so weird to be in something you couldn't touch or feel, only see from the TV at home. Yet here you were with Bella, looking for a gown and a dress, still not fully sinking in to the feeling yet.

The sharply dressed tailor and the other side of the counter looked at you for a brief few seconds, before he spoke. How may I assist you ladies today?” The man said to you both.

“We are here for some dresses for the both of us. My friend here is also looking for a wedding dress, heard you had a few in stock.” Bella said in a confident tone to the man. You on the other hand had frozen to the spot, unable to move. This was so strange you were in a store for...wait..what were you here for again?

“Ahh, but of course ladies, we have dresses for every need and event, my congratulations to the future bride.” The man said, as he looked at you with a polite smile, you were ready to faint, almost hyperventilating on the spot.

“Joey here got frail wedding nerves, just too excited for the wedding. So she might blackout if she doesn’t answer you.” Bella said to the man, she noticed how you froze up and decided to play it as “wedding nerves”, you had to give her credit, it was almost the same as freezing up right now. 

“Of course, I have seen it happen in quite a few men myself ma’am, nothing to worry about. Now what dresses are you looking for?”

“I was thinking of something fancy, like something new and fresh, the latest fashion. Do you have anything like that?” Bella asked, as she led you forwards to a corner of the store that had many dresses out on display.

“Ahh yes, that green one in front of you ma’am is the latest fashion, straight from New York.”

Bella walked up to the green dress, the man was referring too. It was a beautiful ball gown dress, it had a little black in it, absolutely perfect for Bella, it was practically screaming her name. 

“I like this one for me, I’ll try it one, do you have anything else, something a bit bolder, perhaps red?” Bella asked the man, the girl sure knew what she wanted to wear. You on the other hand, had finally snapped out of your temporary trance and started to look at the dresses. The man and Bella were talking about color and fabrics behind you, so you wandered off to a section of dresses that had blue color.

Even though they looked beautiful and all, they were just too big, too poofy. You wanted something figure fitting for your hourglass figure, why hide your curves when you can show them off, a little. Looking through the dresses, there was no one in particular that stood out to you, until almost at the very end of the rack you saw a gorgeous dress with your name on it.

It was a stunning dress, royal blue, with bling on it’s arms, figure fitting and showing off your back a little bit, not too much but it would certainly be ranked as scandalous for this time. Perfect for you by other words, pushing the standards of this time was hilarious for you, the others opinions of you didn’t mean nothing to you, only the ones you cared for their opinions mattered to you. Bella and the man were still talking up a storm at the other end of the store, so you decided to try on the dress by yourself and flaunt it in their faces, just to tease them a bit. 

Taking the beautiful dress of the rack, you entered a dressing room to try and enter this fabueless thing. It was a little bit of a struggle, the dresses at this time were not easy to enter, no manual included so after staring and examining the dress you finally figured it out, and got it on. The dress looked stunning on you, it reminded you of the dress from the Anastacia movie, but with glitter sleeves and a slightly open back, it really flaunted your curves. Joey felt pretty and blushed, turning pink. You were sure that Colm would drool all over you if he saw you in this. Pepping yourself up, you managed to muster up enough courage to get out of the dressing room.

“Bella, I think I found the dress for me do-” 

Bella, the man at the desk and some other people that had entered the store whilst you were putting it on, turned around to stare at you, looking absolutely gobsmacked as they scanned your dress.

“My god, Joey you look fantastic! I love the color, don’t try on anything else. Go look for the drees for your big day instead, it’s in the other room at the back. You don’t have to take the dress off either, just walk in and take your other clothes with you. I’ll be right there.” Bella said in an amazed tone, you guessed that you were pretty enough then, if you got that reaction from them.

Turning around. you showed off your slightly exposed back, making the men murmur a few compliments to themselves about you, show a little skin and they go mad, it was funny to you, back home women would show off way more skin, you wondered how they would fare against a modern woman. They would probably faint or die if they saw a Victoria’s Secret fashion show. 

You walked into the room Bella said that you should go to. It had fancy men suits at one corner, and wedding dresses and the other side, and a small pedestal for the customer to stand on, with a few mirrors around the sides, so one could see the clothes that they were trying on. A little woman approached you, and took your clothes, she seemed to know exactly what you were there for. 

“Ahh so you're the bride to be I heard. My husband said that you were looking for a dress. Got any ideas in mind, my dear?” 

“Well I..don’t have a clue…” You scoffed and laughed nervously to the woman. But there were a few styles back home that you liked, you wondered if some of the styles existed in this time yet. 

“I think that you my dear, would do well in a bold dress, something that goes against the typical dresses most brides wear.” The woman said as she placed your clothes in a dressing room and looked over a few wedding dresses, she seemed to know what she was doing, so you didn’t comment. “I take it that you are buying the dress you're wearing mydear?” 

“Yes, and I agree with you that I need something bold.”

“I have been doing this for 15 years my dear, I know when a special bride comes into my store, and you are different against the time, and that needs a bold dress.”

“Alright, I trust you on this then, show me what you got.” You said to the lady, curious on what she would pull out for you.

The first dress was a big ball gown dress, a bit like a disney princess. I didn’t feel like you when you tried it on, it felt like a cliché, not quite you. The lady seemed to sense that as well. “No, that’s not the one for you my dear, you need something that’s more figure fitting, bolder.”

The second dress had beautiful beads in it and lace covered sleeves, sure it was figure fitting and straight, but it was plain, boring and you hated lace with a passion, it itched and got stuck on everything. “I don’t like the lace, but I like that it is figure fitting, but I need some more, well more sparkle or something like that.”

Bella entered the room, dress in hand, it seemed that she had bought one for herself. “How’s it going, have you found a model you wanna go on?” 

“Apparently I am bold, and need something figure fitting, but I need bling.” You shouted to Bella from the fitting room. “Hey, if you see something you can give me one and I’ll try it on, I bet you have some ideas and I’m open for suggestions.”

“Oh, god yes. I was begging for you to say that, I have some ideas in mind.” Bella walked up to your dressing room, and started whispering.”I just saw Arthur Morgan enter the store with some english feller. I think that they are walking this way, so we gotta be discreet. Also hand me that blue dress you got before, I will pay for it, at least we got one dress for you.” Bella said as she took the dress you had picked out from before. Arthur was here with Trelawney? This could be a complicated situation for you, but they hadn't noticed you or Bella yet, so there was a chance that nothing would happen. 

The little lady from before, had pulled out another dress for you to try on and it was perfect. It was a figure fitting dress that would show off your curves, no lace, a sweetheart neckline with a little fabric on top that was like sleeves but not quite, and it had bling on it. Around the waist and around your chest, it sparkled like the stars would shine against a pitch black night, it was perfect. 

“I think this dress is one you’ll have to try out on the pedestal by the mirrors. I’ll lace you up whilst your friend pays for the other dress you picked up, you just get in here and I’ll help you. It seemed like you didn’t have a choice about this, you would have to go out there and see your dress, but maybe Arthur and Trelawney wouldn't recognize you? Lacing you up and fixing the dress, you looked in the small mirror in the dressing room, it was perfect. It was worth the risk to see it on the dressing floor Arthur and Trelawney be damned, you thought to yourself. Bella had walked back to your dressing room and put her head in to look at you. “Wow okay get out, we need to see that thing in some proper lighting.” Bella said as she pulled away the fabric that coverd the dressing room. 

Stepping out, you felt nervous, about the dress and about the others being there. But only you were in the room for the moment, so you relaxed a bit. Stepping up on the pedestal, you were handed a mirror by the little lady, and looked at your dress properly in the mirrors, it sure was breathtaking and bold. 

“That’s the one, your future husband is a lucky man.” Bella teased as she walked up to you, looking proudly at you in the mirror in front of you. Bella had already accepted you as her future sister-in law. “Wait, let’s angle this mirror better.” Bella walked up to a mirror to your right, and angled it so that you could see your side and back properly. It was quite a lot for you to take in..

You looked pretty, even though you felt ugly, but the others said you weren’t, so there had to be some truth in their words. 

“I guess that this is the one then.” You still could not believe that you had uttered those words, you had always believed that you would live alone and die alone back home, but here you were getting a dress for your wedding, was it really real or did you need to pinch yourself? “Do you have any veils for me to try on and some shoes that go with the dress?” You said to the little lady. 

“Of course I do my dear, I found a special one in the back, I know you don’t like lace but it goes perfectly with the dress you wear. 

“I’m willing to try.”

“Hang on, I found you these shoes for you to wear.” Bella said as she placed a beautiful pair of silver high-heel shoes with cute bows in the front, they were perfect, fun, and with a little attitude. In other words, you. 

Stepping in the shoes, and getting the veil placed on your head, you turned around to face Bella, when you saw Arthur and Trelawney were in the room and they were looking at you, amazed. 

“My, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a beautiful bride in my life. Who is the lucky man to marry you my dear?” Trelawney said, as he walked up to you and did a dramatic bow in front of you, the veil covered your face, so he didn’t know it was you yet. Arthur was apparently trying on a fancy suit at the opposite side of the room, he looked very nice in it too, blue really was Arthur’s color. But you saw him glimpsing your way, by looking in the mirror in front of him. 

“Stay out of it, englishman, I’m here with my future sister-in-law and we don’t need no stranger to ruin our day.” Bella hissed, at Trelawney, she didn’t seem to like him either. 

“No harm in asking who the lucky husband to be is, my dear. Besides I’m surprised that your husband Murdoch didn’t follow you here Bella.” Trelawney said in a slightly smug tone. Arthur turned from the corner he was standing in and quickly walked up to you. 

Dammit Trelawney…

“Joey?” Arthur asked in a gentle voice, he really didn’t recognize you under all those fancy clothes and veil. 

“Hello Arthur, nice to see you again. I take it that you are going someplace nice in those clothes.” You said, as you raised the veil and showed your face to them both. 

“Hello again, my dear.” Trelawney said, as he took your hand and helped you off the pedestal, at least he was a gentleman. 

“Yes, hi to you too Trelawney.” You rolled your eyes and pinched your noses. Ugh why now, couldn't they just magically disappear for a few moment’s? 

“So you knew who I was?”  
“Yes, I did, I knew who you were in Rhodes..” 

“Asstonishing, Dutch was really right about your intellect, they all miss you greatly back home, where you belong. He emphasized on the world; belong, it sickened you to hear Dutch’s name again. 

“Leave me alone, let me live my own life. You don’t own me. Now I’m going away and you are going to leave us. Tell Dutch to get a hobby and go swim with alligators.” You said to them, as you walked to your dressing room and changed to your normal clothes. 

“Joey, sweetheart, it’s not good for you to hang around those people, you are just acting up and not seeing things clearly, I know about your nerves and how you got in Armadillo, come with us and go home, you are safer with us. Hosea and Lenny, heck even Micah miss you.” Arthur said as he stood outside your dressing room, he was pissing you off, with that Armadillo comment with your nerves. Yes, you were in a bad way here, but you pulled yourself together:Alone with no help. 

“Don’t you go and use my nerves against me Arthur, I don’t need no help from you “family”, I have my own. You said, as you walked out with your wedding dress on your arms. “I’ll take it, do you think you’ll have it ready in a few days?” You asked the little lady. 

“Should be done in about 4 days ma’am.”

“Great, Bella we’re leaving”

The both of you walked out the store with Trelawney and Arthur in tow. 

“Joey, please listen!”

“No, I won't listen to you” Bella and you sat down in your buggy, as you were about to drive off, Arthur grabbed the horse, preventing you from leaving.

“He won’t let you go so easily, Joey at least talk to him. We've had a hard time recently when we was’ in Rhodes, we lost Sean and Bill, and Abigail was taken by some feller that we were looking for in town.” Arthur said, as he held the horse tightly, not wanting you to go just yet. 

“Sean’s not dead..” You whispered to Arthur..

“Course he is-”

“I saved him...I knew what you were walking into, I could only save one, so I did..Now go” You clicked the reins harshly on the horse, but still hot to hard. Yanking the horse away from Arthur’s grip and allowing you to leave him behind as you sped off back towards the Gray’s mansion. 

“Now that could’ve gone smoother, but I’m proud of you. You didn’t have to tell him about Sean though.” Bella said, as she stopped the buggy by the stables and stepped out.

“I don't think he believed me anyway, and I needed to distract him, or else we would still be stuck there.”

“Yeah you are probably right though, still we got our dresses, and your’s was the prettiest one I’ve ever seen. Now we just gotta hide them from our men, or their slobber will ruin the dresses.” Bella teased you, as she helped you out the buggy. 

“Think Colm will like it?”

“Oh he’ll love it, he will probably won't take his eyes off you in that thing” Bella said, as she suggestively wiggled her eyebrows and gave a sly smile towards you.

You just giggled at her.”I’ glad that your filthy brain is pleased then.” 

“Oh it’s pleased alright.”

“Joey!”

“Goddamn idiot!”

A sprinting Sean came up and hid behind you, an angry Murdoch and Colm came shortly after him. It would appear that your brother, had done something stupid to piss them off this much. Sighing to yourself, you prepared yourself for a screaming match aimed at Sean.

“So what seems to be the problem, today?” You asked, whilst eyeing Sean his hands on your shoulders. but he hid his head behind your back.

“That idiot brother of your’s, put a damn trap in my shoe, just like you did but a bigger one! Would have lost my damn foot if I wasn't quick enough.” Murdoch yelled at you and Sean, it would seem that Sean was up to mischief, a part of you was proud of him. But he could've chosen an easier target, like the young boys. 

“Really Sean?”

“It's not my fault that damn eejit has no sense of humor, I was just trying to wake him up a bit, I heard what you did, so I decided to go bigger.” Sean said to you as he put his head on your shoulder, still trying to be brave in front of them both.

“Mini-bear trap?”

“Yes, thought it was proper for the bastard.” 

“Damn that’s a good one brother, proud over your ambition, thought that being said, pick your targets better next time.” You said to Sean, you were a proud big sis, yet slightly annoyed one too. 

“What? Don’t encourage him!” Murdoch yelled at you, feeling probably insulted that you defended Sean for his prank. “Could've lost my foot here, and you defend that damn idiot?!” 

“But you didn’t.” You said with a stone cold face, whilst rubbing Sean’s hand. “Besides practice makes perfect. Next time it could be Dutch’s foot instead.”

Colm and Murdoch just sighed, and ran their hands over their faces. No matter what shit Sean through at them, you had his back. But you needed to get their frustration out, so you decided to act on that plan you had told Colm a few days back.. 

“Tell you guys what. Wait until it’s late tonight, and we'll go shoot someone and vent all that anger out of you. Sounds good?” You asked Colm and Murdoch.

“Sure, we need to shoot someone after that. But that idiot ain’t coming with us.” Colm said as he walked forwards to you, grabbing your hand and slapping Sean’s hands off your shoulders.

“Hey! Watch it, treat your fellow Irishman better than that!” Sean whined at Colm.

“Watch it boy! You're on thin ice already, if it wasn't for Joey here, I would put a damn bullet in your head.” Colm threatened Sean, utterly fed up with him for the moment. 

Sean just mumbled to the both of you, before he wandered off to join the younger boys in the gang. Propobally torturing them about stories of his da, politics and very overblown stories and things he’d done. 

A few hours later..

It was around midnight and you Colm and Murdoch, were by the horses ready to go off and blow some steam off.   
“So what are we doing then?” Colm asked, as his brother stood beside him, just as curious as him.

“We are going to the wall by Shady Belle and have us some target practice, then we’ll run off before they find us.” You said, as you grabbed your sniper from Bacchus.

Colm and Murdoch shined up at the mention of target practice. “Who are we shooting?” Murdoch asked as he grabbed his sniper from his horse.

“Anyone you want, but I am going to kill someone tonight, you are just shooting to wound them or else we won’t have any fun at the bank later. 

“You, kill someone?” Murdoch scoffed at you, he didn’t believe you.

“Oh, I have saved this kill for a long time. Been patient, biding my time unlike you, mister I will shoot anything that annoys me.” You mocked Murdoch, trying to get his dark voice in, as you said it, though it came out a bit flat.

“Oh haha, very funny”

“Be nice to my future wife!”

“Alright, alright can we go now? I need to shoot someone already!”

“Fine, me and Colm will share a horse, and you can borrow Bacchus, see it as compensation for Sean annoying you earlier today.” 

Murdoch just shrugged and walked off and mounted Bacchus. Colm was excited though, as you jumped on Brutus you were still not that comptable about sharing a horse, but you wanted to be extra nice to him, as your brother annoyed his brother. The 3 of you rode off in silence to Shady Belle and stopped by the small wall, that was a little ways from the house, a perfect sniper perch for you.It seemed like they were having some party down by the house, which means no guards and that they are probably drunk. 

Dismounting Colm’s horse, you walked up to the wall and crouched and aimed your sniper at the fire, to get lay of the camp. It seemed that they had found Abigail again, a damn shame, you were hoping that she would stay lost. But that didn’t matter for the moment, you had unfinished business. 

“So who are you shooting then?” Colm asked, as he crouched beside you, his brother on the right side of the wall, he was scoping out the camp too. 

“Abigail”  
“Who’s she then?”

“Do you have any binoculars with you?”

“Yeah”

“You see that brown haired lady, by Arthur and John there, by the fire?”

“Hang on, yeah I see her, she's the one your gonna kill?”

“Once I get a clear shoot, I don’t have a problem with the others...yet at least.” 

“Getting me all hot and bothered, seeing you like this sweetheart”

“Eww, brother I’m right here.”

“Shut up, at least my woman can shoot.”

“Quiet, trying to aim here.” You whisper yelled at them, making them both go quiet.

It took a few moments before you had a clear shoot. They were having a grand party down at the house, singing and drinking, but after a while Abigail stood up, said something to John and started walking towards the house, now was your chance.

“I have a shoot, how about you Murdoch?”

“Got one here, injured was it right?”

“Yes, but I kill mine.”

“No fair.”

“Quiet, alright here we go…”

“On 3…”

“2…”

“1…”

BANG!

You and Murdoch shoot at the same time. You shoot Abigail straight through her heart, she was dead before she hit the floor. There was a lot of blood coming out of her, as she fell towards the ground. The others around camp were screaming, especially the girls. But you had to go fast, there was no time to lose, drunk or not most of them could still shoot. 

Running towards your horses, you managed to drag Colm and Murdoch with you. They were having a blast, but had to leave now. Mounting up your horses, you rode hard and fast away from Shady Belle, at the sound of screams and Dutch yelling orders to the gang. Taking the shortcut through the burnt tobacco fields, you managed to reach Gray's mansion in a matter of minutes, and no one had followed you back, perfect. Dismounting your horses, you decided to ask Murdoch whom he shot.

“So who did you shoot?”

“Shot a blonde, half fat guy in the butt, was hilarious.”Murdoch said, with a smile on his face, utterly pleased.

“You shot Micah? Nice one, bet he’ll limp a while for that.”

“Your’s was brutal, there was a lot of blood.” Colm said, as he dismounted his horse and wrapped his arm around your shoulder, he seemed pleased.

“I told John not to go near her, but it seems like he didn’t listen, so I had to make my point a bit clearer to him, at least that’s what I think I would translate it.” You said, as you leaned into Colm’s arms.

“We’ll have fun with him in Saint Denis soon..”

“Mhm, ohh how is the roof going, is it done soon?” 

“Should be done in about 2 days, I think, talked to some of the boys earlier. They were eager though.”

“I have to come with you when we go to the bank, just to make sure that you don’t miss anything or all our hard work we’ll be for nothing.” You said to Colm, in a serious tone, there was no room for error or all could be for nothing.

Alright, you can come, but did Bella tell you about the mayor’s ball we're going to in 2 days?” Colm said, as he hugged you tighter, wrapping his arms around your body completely. 

“It was in 2 days? Yeah, she told me but not the time, but don't you worry, I got a dress ready for that grand party.”

Colm just hummed at you as his answer and walked you up to your bedroom, it seems like you were both going to have a few busy days ahead of you. Changing into your nightgown and laying down besides Colm, you closed your eyes and thought about what laid ahead of you.

It was almost time..

Almost...


	18. The ball in Saint Denis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are SOOOOO close now folks!!!
> 
> Spelling what is that?

2 days left before that grand ball by the mayor’s house. Dutch and a few others would surely be there too. But that was then, you had to focus on your current task of the day. Which was to fix a body armor to Sean, being paranoid of him getting hurt, he got an especially bulletproof armor, decorated with a dragon breathing fire on the front. 

“Here we are, alright Sean let’s try this on you.” You said, as you walked up to Sean, giving him the body armor to put it on him.

“Alright, let’s try it on lass, I shall be known as bulletproof, deadeye, MacGuire before you know it.” Sean teased as he put the armor on him, it fit him perfectly.

“Sure, better than hole-in-the head MacGuire, and that dragon I made in the front makes you look handsome too.”

“I knew it!” Sean said with a smile. “Knew you thought I was handsome, goes in the family it does, my da used to say-”

“Yes, no politics is politics, and something else you said..” You said, as you rolled your eyes at him, but you let him be, at least he was still alive and well. He had actually managed to get a few friends with the O’Driscoll’s, but he had still not managed to convince Colm and Murdoch yet. He was still a pest to them, Bella liked him though, he was harmless to her. 

Today you had nothing in particular planned for the day, after fitting Sean up with armor you were free to do as you pleased. Colm was off doing something, but he had been more present with you as off late. Perhaps he was planning something for the ball, or the bank, or perhaps even the wedding that still had not really been planned, there was no set date, so maybe it would be a surprise? Sighing to yourself, you sat down by the front of the mansion in one of the chairs by the door.  
What to do today? Humming to yourself, just 2 more days but right now there was time to spill, boring in other words.

“What are you doing today Joey?” Murdoch asked, as he walked out from the corner of the house. He had a kind face today, he usually was actually quite the grump, but he treated Bella well and was totally whipped around her when no one else was around.

“Killing time, going insane and something else.” You sighed, as you leaned in your chair, utterly bored. 

“Already knew that you were crazy, wanna go hunting? I know that you can shoot, so what do you say?” 

“Sure, I can teach you a few tricks and hints.” You teased him, as you rose from your chair and walked towards him, eager to show him that you were a good hunter.

“I think I can manage, have been doing this for a while sweetheart, don’t need no tips’ and stuff from you.” Murdoch said, as the both of you walked towards your horses. Then it hit you, dammit you had forgotten to get a new horse for him, well that would just have to be fixed later, you thought to yourself with a sigh. Mounting up, the two of you rode out towards the swamps near Lakay, it was so hot and moist out there, but you were determined to show Murdoch what you got, so you sucked it up and pressed onwards. 

“So here’s a good hunting spot, bet I can beat you though, not even Colm can beat me in hunting.”Murdoch said proudly to himself as he steered his horse towards a patch of grass, that you knew had gators in it.

“What will you do when I whoop you in this too?” You asked with a sly grin on your face, game on you thought to yourself.

“Oh, we’re competing again are we?”

“Yes, I can beat you, again I might add.”

“Alright, the one who kills and bags the best pelt’s and such by, let’s say midday since it’s still early, wins.” 

“What does the winner get?”

“Hmm, lemme see here, if I win I get your horse for a week, if you win you can have one of my guns.” Murdoch said as he rubbed his chin, he had some nice guns indeed, one had a skull with red stone’s in it, utterly awesome, so you decided to play his game but with a twist.

“Okay, but if you win I can buy you a turkoman I saw in the stables here too, since you don’t win that much.”

“Deal, but I’ll keep you to that, no backing out of it.” Murdoch said with a grin on his face, eager to get shooting.

“Deal, shall we split up and meet somewhere later?”

“Sure, we can meet by the front of that house at the edge of the swamp, the one by the road.”

“I know the one, see ya when I beat you!”  
Witch that, you rode off towards the train tracks by the edge of the city. That place was teeming with wildlife to kill. After you reached the train tracks, you saw your first gator of the day, a big fat one lazing in the sun, this would be a quick and easy kill. Grabbing your rifle, you shoot the gator with a clean shot to the head, it was not quite as easy to skin the beast as you thought though, it seemed so easy in the game, but it was much tougher and harder in real life, but you managed to skin it after a little while.

Placing the big gatorskin on Bacchus, you moved off towards the mud by the farms, there were usually a lot of snapping turtles around there. Sure enough, there was when you reached the mud, there was a big scary turtle in the middle of a puddle, taking out your sniper, you shoot the turtle in the head, killing it instantly. But you remembered that it was the wrong gun, you should have used a bow or a varmint rifle. “Dammit wrong gun..” you mumbled to yourself, but it had to do, but how on earth do you skin a turtle? Poking at the turtle with your foot, didn’t you just skin it and grab the meat in the middle, like in the game? Shrugging to yourself, you did just that, slicing open the turtle in the middle and grabbing the meat. Now you had to move on to the next target. Bacchus seemed a bit agitated, and you found out why there were a lot of snakes around here. 

Going up to your horse, you grabbed your pistol and aimed it at the snake's head, but you missed it. “Dammit!'' Running after the quick snake towards the forest, it stopped and started hissing at you, but you managed to shoot it in the head now. But you had no idea if it was a good skin on it or not, but you skinned it anyway, the skin looked good enough to you anyway. Wait, wasn't this the place where that weird guy Sonny lived? But you didn’t have to think too long about that before a familiar voice started talking to you.

“Why hey there lady, what are you up to here? No one usually comes here.” Sonny said from his porch.

“Hunting, followed a snake here.”

“Sure are a lot of snakes around here, do you wanna see my collection? It's in the house, I have skulls, pelts, plenty of skins, and I know of plenty of good games around the swamp.” Sonny said, as he grabbed a pillar of the house, but you knew what he was after, he woulden’t rape you like he did to Arthur in the game no, he would do something else, but you had no idea of what.

“I also hunt something else in the swamp..” You said, in a fake voice, hoping that you sounded friendly enough to him that you would get the upper hand. 

“What’s that then lady?” Sonny asked as he leaned on a pillar of his house.

“Men.” You said, as you quickly drew your gun and shot Sonny in the face, he had no time to react, the face of confusion still plastered on his face, as his dead body fell to the ground. Good riddance, you thought to yourself, he had actually quite a bit of money in his house though, nearly 500 dollars, you took it all and wandered off towards the swamp lake. The next target on the list was a big fish, maybe one of them long snouted ones, what was their name a gar? Something..

Waiting for a fish, you saw a fishing pole by a boat, you took it and flicked the line in the water hoping to get something, preferably something big. Looking at your watch, you were shocked to see that your time was almost up, it seems like time does fly by when you hunt in the swamp. A couple of minutes, 5 then 10 minutes passed by until you got a nibble. You had a fish on the line! Judging by the splash it made, it must be a big one too. “Come on get over here..” You mumbled to yourself, as you reeled in the fish, it was quite a struggle to get it in, you managed to get yourself wet through the process. But after a few minutes of having a mortal kombat with a fish, you caught your price, a big channel catfish, it was huge! 

The time was up by now, so you took your fish and horse and rode off towards the house where you were told to meet Murdoch. That bugger was dry, and had quite a few games on his horse, birds, snakes and a big gator skin too. It seemed like you underestimated him after all.

“Why are you wet?” Murdoch said, with a sly grin plastered on his face.

“Had an argument with a fish, but I won after I insulted it’s mother, went after me but I caught him.” You said, as you try to shake off the water from your clothes, you were drenched and fed up with being stuck in this damn swamp by now. 

“Well I can see a huge fish going after you though, you got a big one. So that counts to our contest, seems like you killed a gator too.”

“Killed a big turtle, and a snake too, and a guy in the swamps, got me 500 dollars for that too.” You said, as you pointed to where you shot Sonny. 

“Not bad,not bad at all, but I still got more games then you, so it seems that you lost and I won.” Murdoch said, with a big smile plastered on his face, it seemed like you had hunted the wrong game. 

“Fine, you win this time, but I’ll get you in the future, just you wait.” You said, as you dismounted Bacchus and walked up to Murdoch’s horse Akilles, a bet’s a bet after all. 

“Don’t forget the promise you made too..”

“Yes, yes, I’ll get it done too, don’t you worry your head and get gray hair.” You said to him as you mounted up on his horse now. Murdoch mounted up on Bacchus with the biggest shiteathing grin of the day. 

“Told you I was good!”

“Told you I was good..” You mocked him back in a dark voice, to throw him off a little bit. 

“I don’t sound like that..”

“You do too me..Murk the jerk..”

“Ah there it is, that name again, haven’t heard that since Ridgewood farm, if I remembered right.” 

“My congratulations, you ain’t senile yet.” 

“You’ll fit in nicely in the family Joey, you got my brother practically whipped already.” Murdoch said, with a smile on his face as he encouraged you to follow him back threw the swamps. 

“You ain’t to bad yourself ‘brother’ “You said with genuine care in your voice, he wasn't too bad once you got to know him.Colm did care about him, it all made sense to you know, after Dutch murder him in the game, Colm turned sour and angry, unable to forgive Dutch for what he did, even when he said that he didn’t like him mutch. Colm did care about him, or else you wouldn't keep a blood feud on for so long as they did, they had to have been at each other's throats for at least 10 years or more. It all made sense now, anger and hate could destroy anyone in time, that and greed, it destroyed Dutch after all, in the end. 

“Hmm, still gotta get used to you calling me that.” Murdoch said, as he steered you both past a farmhouse on the other side of the swamps. “But I like you, I’ll admit that.” 

“I knew it..”

“Not you too…”

“Knew it….”

“You’re just like Sean, now I get it why adopted him, that damn irritating bugger…”

“He’s gonna be your little brother in law you know.”  
“Ahh shit, forgot about that.” Murdoch said, as he dramatically groaned from Bacchus' saddle. Haha, you got him back, score you though to yourself. Riding past the hot swamp, you were delighted to reach Rhodes borders, sure it was hot there, but it was a dry heat at least. The both of you reached the house a few minutes later, Colm was talking to Bella, that was unusual, he usually only talked to her when his brother was around. 

“Why are you wet?” Colm asked, as he turned his head towards you, he looked at you with confusion on his face, but he still walked up towards you and helped you get off his brother’s horse.

“She insulted a fish” Murdoch laughed, as he dismounted Bacchus and walked off to Bella, with your horse in tow. Bella laughed, at the statement, Colm scoffed a bit before he laughed a bit too.

“That’s a new one, what’s next sweetheart?” Colm said, as he grabbed your hand and led you towards the house. He led you to your room towards the bathroom, it seems that he wanted you to get a bath. But did he want to get one with you, or was he fixing it up for you? 

“You know I won over the fish right.”

“Of course you did, crazy lady or else you wouldn't be here, but you smell like a swamp.” Colm said, as he turned on the water, he toutched your cheek gently, stroking it softly. “He sent you on a hunting contest didn’t he?”

“Yes”

“He does that to test you, he likes you.” Colm said, as he started to fiddle with your shirt, trying to get it if your wet skin. 

“I’ll have you know, that I am very likeable.” You teased Colm, as you surprised him with a soft kiss to his nose.

“Sure are, got my full attention and all.” Colm said, as he hugged you gently. He didn’t care if he got wet or not, he wanted to be near you at this moment, or else he would go away right?

You managed to get Colm in the bath with you, snuggling up to each other, you cleaned yourself and him. After the both of you were clean, you laid there in the bathtub, snuggling up to each other, just relaxing and resting there was no rush, there was just you.You were running your fingers through his hair, giving him a scalp massage. Colm seemed to enjoy your attention to his head, he had nearly fallen asleep against your chest, if he was so relaxed with you, he had to be happy with you too. Your heart began to race, you still didn’t grasp the emotion and feeling that love was. But you were willing to learn, you had your teacher right in front of you, Perhaps not the best at it but neither was you, you were dysfunctionally functional, in other words made for each other.

“I love you..” you whispered to Colm as he snored away on your chest, he didn’t say anything, but you thought you saw a faint smile on his lips.

He loved you too..

Today was the day of the grand ball in Saint Denis. You and Colm had killed time yesterday by being cute and practically glued to each other, it helped the day pass by quickly. But today was a party ahead of you, but you had no idea if you were to be excited or terrafied, a lot of people would be on that ball, which means a lot of noises and no quiet place for you to chill in, and maybe you said something stupid to embarass Colm and his brother or maybe you were weird or..just endless possibilities of stupid stuff could happen basically.

Then you had to be dressed up in that dress and have eyes glued on you, the only eyes you wanted on you were Colm’s, not anyone else. Dutch would be there guaranteed, but who would take Bill’s place since he was dead now? Maybe it would be one of the Callender brother’s or maybe Micah would still be there, even with a sore butt and all, Murdoch did soot him after all.

“Bella!” You shouted, as you walked towards her room, stressed out on how you should look tonight.

“What is it?”

“How should I dress for tonight? I have no idea what to do with my hair, I don’t want to embarrass you.” You sighed, as you ran your hands through your hair, and sat down on her bed, sighing to yourself, you really haven't got a clue what to do in this situation.

“Have you never been to a ball before Joey?” Bella asked you, as she placed a hand on your shoulder, rubbing it in a calming manner, She sat down beside you and hugged your shoulder, comforting you further. “Don’t worry you’ll be fine, I’ll help you fix up your hair and all, you should be excited though.”

“Why is that?”

“Colm’s gonna be in a suit, but he’ll keep his stupid hat on, it’s praticuarly glued to his head, then he’s gonna see you in that dress that he has no idea on how it look like yet.” 

“That reminds me, what were you two talking about a few days back when I came back with Murdoch?”

“Ohh, that..” Bella sighed, as she grabbed your hand firmly, looking down on at the floor a slight frown on her face appeared. 

“Something wrong?”

“No, no it’s just that Colm asked if anything happens in Saint Denis, so I had to tell him about who we bumped into at the tailor’s store.” 

“Yes, I was wondering how Trelawney knew you anyway.”

“His wife was my best friend, but we fell apart a while back, she knew who I married and I knew who she married. She shunned me after she found out that I married an O’Driscoll.” Bella sighed, as she leaned her head on your shoulder, it seemed like this memory was a painful one to her, so you carefully raised your arm and gently patted her back, trying to comfort her. 

“Let me guess, she didn’t give him a chance and decided to throw your friendship out the window due to his reputation.” 

“Yepp, that’s exactly what happened, you really are a sharp one Joey.” Bella said, as she seemed to have a small smile appear on her face. 

“Well, you got a new best friend in me, besides if she didn’t like you, she can eat shit, bet she’s all ugly and has saggy boobs to the ground now.” You teased Bella playfully, trying to get her to laugh and relax a bit.

“Joey!” Bella laughed, as she playfully slapped you arm. “That’s a mean thing to say!”

“Does it look like I care?” You said to Bella, whilst you gave her your coldest poker face you could muster.

“We’re lucky to have you, everyone likes you by the way.”

“They do? Then you’re all mad, I love that we'll take over the world. I declare war on pelican’s as my first declaration of war” 

“Why pelican’s?”

“They stole my snack many years ago, since then I have decided to declare war against them, besides look at them, they clearly have hidden motives with that weird beak of theirs.” You said to Bella, trying not to sound all too crazy.

“You're so weird sometimes, but I agree with you, they clearly have something wicked going on, them’ pelican’s.” Bella teased, it seemed like she knew the truth, wise woman. 

The rest of day until the ball, you and Bella tried on different hairstyles and jewelry, you both wanted to look your best for the party. Bella borrowed you some plain but pretty silver necklace, your tiger necklace didn’t match your dress for today. Bella had chosen the green dress at the store after all, you helped her get it on her and suit her up. She looked absolutely stunning in it, her blonde hair was up in a nice hairdo, and the dress made her blue eyes shine like stars, she sure was pretty.

After you had helped her in her dress and fixed her hair, it was your turn, you managed to get in your dress now with ease since you had figured it out by now. It was a figure fitting dress, royal blue, and luckily not dragging on the floor. The glitter leaves the dress had were so pretty they looked like swarovski stones, sparkling like little stars, then you had a little bit of skin showing off at your back, being bold for the time, the women still aren't showing too much skin, in this time yet. Bella helped you fix up your hair in a neat hairdo, it was simple yet elegant, but you felt stupid, but reassured you that you looked fine. It had taken a long time to get ready for the ball, as you two were finally done it was time to go.

“Bella, you look fantastic in green, I thought you bought the red dress.”

“Decided to go green, you know gotta stick with the gang’s color a bit, and that dress just so happens to look better on me anyway.” Bella said, as the both of you walked downstairs, it was starting to get dark outside, you still hadn't seen Colm nor Murdoch all day, were they waiting for you? 

“Where are our boys?” You asked, as you walked to the door, briefly stopping and looking around for them, where were they anyway?

“They are outside, I’m sure propobally teasing each other as usual, you know those two, always teasing and bickering with each other.” Bella said, as she opened the door and linked her arm in yours, leading you outside towards a carriage that had somehow appeared in front of the house. Kieran sat at the driver's seat, with the young boy from before, Simon if you remembered correctly.

Kieran and Simon turned their heads towards Bella and you turning bright red almost instantly. 

“E-evening ladies” Kieran managed to stutter out, he looked as if he was about to faint.

“Hi Kieran, are you the cute driver of the day?” You teased him, only making him turn redder and making Simon giggle like a little girl besides him. 

“Be nice Joey, or poor Kieran here will faint and we’ll have to find another driver.” Bella scolded you, as she opened the door to the carige and stepped inside.

“I vote for Sean!”

“No,not him!”

“Oh god no, not him with all his da stories!”

“Ah, he told you about them already..” You said as you rubbed the back of your neck before you stepped into the carriage. “Bella has he told you all his da stories yet?”

Bella rolled her eyes so hard, that you could almost swear they would crack her head. It seemed that Sean was settling in quite well with the O’Driscoll’s, if he was telling them stories and all. Suddenly as you sat down, you heard a bickering Murdoch and Colm approach the carriage.

“I do not look fat, take that back Colm.”

“No, you are fat, you can’t even close the two last button’s on your suit, that’s how fat you are.”

“It’s muscle, not fat, big difference. I can’t help that I don’t look like a damn twig like you.” 

Colm and Murdoch entered the carriage, slightly glaring at each other, before they turned their attention to their separate significant others. Kieran started to move the carriage towards Saint Denis, it was showtime for you all, in a way. 

“Well look at you, looking mighty pretty in that sweetheart” Colm said, as he kissed your head, whilst subtly sneaking his arm around you back and fiddled with your dress a bit, cheeky bastards that he was. 

“Seems that Bella was right, she said you would have your hat on, but don’t you worry I like it.” You said, as you kissed back Colm on his cheek, making him straighten up a bit, almost as he was proud of you for defending him, even if it only was for a hat. 

“Knew you would have my back on that one, see told you Bella she doesn't nag on me, like you do with my brother.” Colm scoffed at Bella, whilst rolling his eyes at her.

“Ah shut up Colm, that hat is ugly as sin.” Bella managed to throw back at Colm, as she paused for her kissings from Murdoch, they were really going at it, and to think that he scolded you a few days back when Colm made a comment, damn hypocrite that Murdoch. The rest of the ride was fairly quick and uneventful, which was nice.

Arriving at the mayor house, there were alot of noises and people about the house, so there had to be quite the party around back. Colm led you out the carriage, and looked you over properly once you were standing at the path to the house. He didn’t say anything but he scoffed at his brother, whilst linking his arm in yours. He and Murdoch had to give their weapons to some guard, so you knew that there were no guns at the party, which calmed you down alot. No one gets shot, realief, you thought to yourself. 

Colm led you upstairs in the house, was he going to meet with Bronte? This seemed so familiar to you, it made you feel slightly uneasy, it was like you were in the eye of a storm, not knowing what could be thrown at you yet. 

“Ahh, the brother’s O’Driscoll, and here are your lady’s I assume, quite the beauties the both of them.” Bronte said, as he looked at you and Bella with those judging eyes, whilst whispering some italian to the people that were around him at the balcony. 

“Bronte, pleasure as always, have you fixed the thing with-?” Colm said, as he talked in a lowered voice to him.

“Yes, yes they have been dealt with, the angry cowboys are invited here tonight, but they have not arrived here yet.” Bronte answered Colm in a slightly raised voice, he didn’t seem to be bothered with whatever they had going on. But you decided to keep your mouth shut, you didn’t want to slip up, or embarass Colm infront of the judgeing man that Bronte was. 

“Is he now?” Colm said, as he looked back at his brother with a sly grin on his face. What were they thinking about you wondered..

“Tell him that thing you told us about the trolley station, that should be entertaining to watch.” Murdoch said to Bronte, you knew what they meant. Yes, that would indeed be funny to watch. But you kept quiet, but you were laughing on the inside.

“But of course, but you should go downstairs with your wives and enjoy yourselves, I’m sure to send the angry cowboys your way when I see them, it should be entertaining to watch.” Bronte laughed, as he waved you off. Colm and Murdoch walked downstairs with you and Bella in tow. I had almost slipped your mind on how pretty Colm looked tonight, he was dressed in all black, except for his green vest, green neckerchief, a white shirt that he had on under the vest. Then he had a fancy coat with maybe red inside it on him, but you couldn't quite see, and then his signature hat, but it was clean for today. 

You stood to the right side of the stairs, Colm had grabbed some champagne for the both of you and was chatting away with his brother, and Bella on occasion, you on the other hand, were silent looking around you, seeing faces you faintly recognized from before, there was that Evelyn Miller by the fountain, then the mayor, maybe even Leviticus Cornwall was there too, Which was odd, he wasn't there in the game, but then again, everything was not exactly as they were in the game, it seemed that he hadn't been robbed this time though. It didn’t take long before you heard a familiar voice enter the balcony with Bronte, it sounded like Dutch.

You almost felt like snarling, when you heard his voice, Colm seemed to sense you getting angry. His solution was to grab you and hug you tightly to his side, still keeping calm and sipping his champagne. “Easy sweetheart, we got this.” He whispered in your ear, whilst giving his brother some sort of signal as he nodded, but you still didn’t move. So you decided to let Colm handle this one, but you were slightly worried about what Dutch would do once he saw you. 

Dutch sure was having a grand conversation with Bronte upstairs, you heard the trolley station being mentioned, then the bank. But you already had that covered so you didn’t react when it was mentioned. Shortly after that, you heard some mumbles and footsteps, as Dutch walked down the stairs. Hosea, Arthur and Micah were with him, Micah had a different suit on from the others, he had that white suit on the same he wore at the bank robbery in the game, he actually looked quite nice in that suit, he would look even better if he walked straight. They split off and wandered around in the crowd, fishing out for leads and information. Arthur went left, Hosea walked forwards, but Dutch and Micah walked to the right, just where you were with the brother’s and Bella.

Well this should be interesting, you thought to yourself, as Dutch and Micah wandered towards you, they haven't seen you yet. But they did now, you almost dropped your poker face as you saw Dutch again, the rage and hate for that man was building up inside your body, oh how you so badly wanted to rip his head clean of his shoulders. 

Colm seemed amused, as did his brother when he saw Dutch, but kept his head cool and sipped on his champagne nonchalantly, before he said anything to Dutch.

“Hello Dutch, been awhile..” Colm said coldly to Dutch, whilst his brother sized up Micah and him.

“Hello, Colm and Murdoch, been a while since last, but I hoped it would be a little longer.” Dutch said coldly, as he looked at you, his eyes scopeing you out, before he noticed the ring on your finger and you saw the fire in his eyes rise, but he played it cool.

“How’s the score you stole of us? Colm said coldly, whilst sneaking his arm up on your back, seemingly just to anger Dutch, and to keep your nerves in check. 

“Which one?”

Murdoch and Colm laughed at that before they answered coldly. “Always knew that you were a charismatic leader Dutch, but it seems that not everyone buys all the crap you say nowadays.” Colm said to Dutch, as he looked down to you, it would seem that he was referring to you right now. But still you kept silent, but you grabbed Colm’s hand, to show that you were with him.

“You stole from me and I’d like to have my stolen property back, before this goes way out of hand, Colm.” Dutch said, as he walked towards you, he was bluffing, he had no guns on him.

“Is that so?” Colm said, calling his bluff.

“It is.” Dutch said back, whilst trying to quickly grab you arm, to pull you away from Colm, but you saw what he was doing and countered back, by digging your nails into Dutch’s hand hard, drawing blood you hoped it hurt him alot. Maybe he would finally get the hint that you hated him. 

“Goddammit!” Dutch yelled, as he grasped his bloody hand and backed off. Murdoch had already grabbed Micah and beaten him up quite a bit, he was all bloody and bruised. 

“Seems that your property doesn’t want you back, Dutch.” Colm said, as he walked off with you, holding your hand firmly as not to lose you in the crowd of people that were gathering to watch the scene unfold before them. “Come on brother, let’s go.” Colm said, as he led you out of the house. You saw a disappointed Hosea and an angry Arthur on your way out, but there was nothing you could do. 

Colm and Murdoch entered the carriage and you were all heading back towards the mansion. The brothers laughed and talked about what just happened as did Bella, but you just sat there silently, thinking and digesting what just happened.  
Arthur was right, Dutch wouldn't let you go, now that he saw your engagement ring he would properly be even more determined to reclaim his “stolen property” as he called you.

What would happen next, you wondered to yourself..


	19. Starting the prank ahead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are reving the prank up now folks...
> 
> Can't spell =(

Dutch and the others were sitting in the carriage, heading back towards Shady Belle. It was utterly humiliating what just happened back at the mayor's house. How on earth could she do that to me? Dutch thought, to himself. Sighing to himself, he grabbed his sore bloody hand, it had stopped bleeding by now, but it looked like a wild animal had attacked him poor Micah, had been beaten with an inch of his life by that damn Murdoch O'Driscoll, they would pay for what they had done. First they stole your girl, then they had obviously twisted and turned her to their will, properly playing with her frail nerves. They must be after the bank too, Dutch thought to himself, the gang needed to act quickly if you were to rob the bank before the O’Driscoll’s. 

“Well, I say that was an interesting night, boys.” Hosea said with a sigh, breaking the silence that was hanging in the carriage. 

“How’s your hand, Dutch? She got you good.” Arthur asked, as he leaned forward to look at Dutch’s hand.

“She got me good son, but that is not what concerns me the most for the moment.”

“What is that then Dutch?”

“I saw an engagement ring on Joey’s finger, and I know that they are up to something here. I suspect the bank, and with her helping them, we have a big disadvantage here boys.” Dutch said, with a big sigh as he looked out the window of the carriage, leaving Saint Denis, over the bridge towards Shady Belle. 

“Yeah about that,” Arthur said, as he rubbed his neck nervously for what he was about to say. “She ordered a wedding dress in Saint Denis, she is to pick it up in 2 days, Colm’s got her good, you have to let her go Dutch.” 

“What?”

“Leave her be Dutch, she doesn’t want you, let her go.” Hosea said, with a tired face he was tired of Dutch’s obsession with Joey. Sure, she was of great use to the gang and made excellent plans. But something was inside those green eyes of hers,   
there was something dark and sinister inside her, just waiting to get out and unleash her fury on everything that was in her path. He noticed that she was strange by how she acted, she was so eerily quiet in Tall Trees, just sitting there watching and waiting, it reminded Hosea of a predator, and it scared him to the core of what she would do once she snapped. She certainly smart enough to end the whole gang, if she was provoked enough. 

“Don’t give her any reasons to unleash her anger on us Dutch.” Hosea said, as he sighed to the group.  
“What do you mean old feller?” Micah said, as he groaned a bit in his seat, he was all bruised and sore after Murdoch’s beatings. “It’s not like she is hunting us or something.”

“No, I don’t think so either, but I suspect that she is planning something big in Saint Denis, call it a gut feeling or me being an old fool, but they are planning something here Dutch, we have to act quickly and get out. 

“How can you be so sure that she’s doing anything, old feller? Murdoch is probably pulling most strings himself, ain't like they would bow down for a woman.” Micah said, with a scoff to Hosea.

“No, not entirely I suspect. But she’s smart enough to twist and bend words to her advantage, I still don’t understand how she can beat us to every punch before us it’s fine one or twice but now, it’s just like..” Hosea paused, as he thought about his next words wisely. “It’s almost like she has seen all of this before, but I have no idea how to explain what I mean.” Hosea finished, as he looked at Dutch and Arthur, a serious look on his face, he wasn't playing around, he meant what he said. 

“Now you are being paranoid, old feller, no one can have seen all this before, it just happened. You’re losing it old man.” Micah said with a laugh, to Hosea he wasn't buying any of this.

Perhaps he should...

Joey’s pov:  
It was early in the morning the next day, today was the day where the first part of the plan would happen in the bank. Today the gang would break in through the roof at night, steal one gold bar and so how many bills there were, then you would count the gold bars. After that you would make all the fake money and gold bars then break in again, steal the real money and replace it with all the fake ones you’d made. The best part was Dutch would get all the blame, utterly hilarious and you were going to be there on the rooftops, pointing and laughing at him. There was only one problem though, you didn’t know if he would hit the bank first or the trolley. 

But surely he would, right? You were there at the party, pushing him to act. He must suspect that you were up to no good with you there, you were the one with the plan after all, which in this case meant one thing: the bank, so he had to act, right?

You had eaten your breakfast and were waiting for the dark, so you decided to go rid yourself with the bet you had with Murdoch. So you mounted Bacchus and rode towards the stable in Saint Denis, it was a quick errand, so you managed to slink off on your own. It would only take a few minutes, you had all the money you needed to buy that horse you had in mind for Murdoch. Arriving at the stables, you rode in and saw what you guessed to be the boss of the stable.

“Can I help you with something, lady?” The man said, he was a tall man, built like an ox and looked like he didn’t like getting his time wasted, perfect neither did you.

“Heard you got a turkoman for sale, I’m looking to buy it, then be off.” You said, as you leaned forwards in the saddle, laying your hands on the saddle horn as you spoke.

“Ahh, you want the gold one do ya? Well you got good taste, as you have one yourself. Do you have the money though? He’s worth 800 dollars, and the price ain’t up for negotiating either, lady.” The man said, as he approached the golden turkoman that you were after.

“Got it, and the price ain’t no problem either.”

“Then we got a deal then, lady.” The man said, as he walked up to your horse and shook your hand, he took the money as you gave it to him. Then he wandered off to your newly purchased horse and put a halter with a long lead on him, so that you could ride off with him right away.

“Treat him well, but I think you will, considering how your horse looks. I’ll put his papers in your saddle bag. Here’s the lead, good luck, lady.” The man said, as he put the papers in the bag and gave you the horse.

“Appreciate it.” You answered the man back, before you rode out of the stable with the magnificent golden turkoman in tow, surely this would be to Murdoch’s taste. It was only a short ride back now, so you spurred on Bacchus and the new horse followed suit, snorting pleased, it seemed that he had been confined to his stable for a little too long his taste.

“Eager to stretch your legs, boy?” You asked, the new horse as he did a happy buck to answer your question. You decided to go faster, testing him as you aimed towards the straight path to the Grey’s mansion, hoping that Murdoch would see him running around. But the thing was, you had no idea where he was. So you rode towards the back of the stables, if his horse was there, then he would be here. Riding around the corner you kicked up quite a lot of dust and stares, it ain’t often you see a golden horse after all. You saw that good old Akilles was still there in the stables, so where was Murdoch?

You halted the horses, and got the new stallion’s head in your face, his way of saying “Hey, can’t we run a little more?” 

“Get off, ya damn dog.” You scolded the stallion, as you petted his face in a friendly manner, he sure was a beauty.

You heard a door open, and lo and behold, there was Murdoch with some guys you kinda recognized and in a way you didn’t. 

“Ahh there you are, finally got you that present I promised you, Murk” You said to him, as you tossed the lead to the halter to him, he caught it on the first try, so your future plans of ‘catch this” were on hold. 

“Would you look at that, you sure don’t laze around with your promises, do ya?” Murdoch said, as he walked over to his new horse, a big smile plastered on his face, it seemed that he was pleased, after all it was a golden horse, that’s epic!

“Nope, I do not and I got you a gold one, to signal your golden years are behind you.” You teased him, as you looked away towards the mansion, hoping Colm would come out and join in with the teasing of his brother. 

“Very funny, my golden years are ahead of me, I’m still in my prime.”

“I heard your hip crack from the carriage yesterday.” 

“Ahh, maybe I’m getting a little old then” Murdoch said, in a low voice when he stood right next to you, so only you could hear it.”

“Victory.” You said, as you smiled back at him.

“Shut up with you, I ain’t old.” He teased back.

“One day, you’ll wake up and have gray hair, and I’ll be there causing it.”

Murdoch laughed.”Now that you will, you are the second most annoying person I’ve ever met.”

“Colm beat me to it just because he was first?”

“Yes.”

“Well go on then, old man, aren’t you gonna try him out then?” You said, impatiently as you steered Bacchus towards the house, you needed a race today.

“I ain’t old!” Murdoch yelled back, as he walked towards the stable and saddled up his new horse, it took about 10 minutes until he was done, but when he was finally done, he rode his new stallion to you, he also seemed ready to race today.

“Well then, where too today sweetheart? Murdoch asked, as he patted his new horse.

“The straight road by Saint Denis, from the bridge to the road that leads to Shady Belle, as for names for your new partner in crime I think Zeus or Gold something suits him.” You said, as you rode away from the mansion.

“Zeus?”

“In ancient mythology Zeus was the king of the gods, the big boss and gold is just so obvious ain’t it?” You said, as you rode on.

“No, I like Zeus, since I’m the boss after all, Colm will pester me, but in the end I call the shots.” Murdoch said, as you rode on.

“No, I think it’s you and Bella.”

“Now, that’s true, I’ll admit that, have you heard the news by the way?”

“No?”

“Bella is 3 months pregnant, I’m gonna be a father soon.” Murdoch said proudly, from the saddle, a big grin appearing on his face, you were sure that even though he was a bit of an ass and a grump sometimes, he would be a great dad. 

“Congratulations, you will not sleep for a year.” You teased back.

Murdoch bursted out laughing at that, barely able to stay in the saddle, before he wiped his eyes and looked at you. “You sure a little shit Joey, but it can’t be that bad can it?” 

You looked at him with a cold glare, teasing him, “They shit a lot too, and scream, sometimes it’s combined, you are doomed.” 

“You’re an ass, you know that?”

“Your soon to be sister-in-law ass too, and I have ginger little brother, you are utterly screwed” You said with a wicked grin, as you finally reached the bridge. 

“Ugh, don’t remind me of that idiot.”

“Anyway, we are here to race, future father to be, are ya ready?” 

“Yeah, I’m ready and this time I’ll win!”

“Perhaps…”

“On 3”

“2”

“1”

GO!

Both of you lunged into a gallop from the bridge, Murdoch was more eager than ever to beat you know, he had an advantage now, with Zeus and all. But Zeus was no Bacchus and he just got him, so in a way you had the upper hand after all. Bacchus was stretching his legs, lunging at the ground, Zeus was behind you but only just. Bacchus tossed his head down, angling himself in his stride, so he could take longer strides and go faster. He kept going faster and faster, ears pricked forward, he was having a blast. You were about halfway there, when you looked behind you, Murdoch was just a few meters behind you, this was going to be a close one.

“Come on Bacchus!” You shouted to your horse, as you spurred him to go a little faster. Reaching the end of the fence and the straight road, just passed the finish line, just a few seconds before Zeus and Murdoch slowed down behind you. But there was something off here, it was as if you were being watched as of right now. 

“Quiet, somethings off..” You said to Murdoch, in a quiet tone so he would get the hint to be quiet.

“I agree, somethings up.” Murdoch answered, as he reached for his pistols. 

There was a sound from the forest to you right, you saw a black horse, with a white face, it was Baylock, which means Micah. Damn, you thought to yourself. But Baylock was picking up speed as he trotted up right in front of you, with Micah on him.

“Why hello there dollface, did ya miss me?” Micah said, as he stopped in front of him, he really was bruised and battered from yesterday. 

“You look sore, still hanging around with Dutch the man with no plan?” You said with a sneer, perhaps you could persuade Micah to leave him? He too, even though he was a difficult case, deserved a second chance, it’s not easy to change when everyone treats you as dirt beneath your shoe. 

Micah shifted in his saddle, once he laid eyes on Murdoch. He was pissed to say the least, his eyes were laced with a fire, that fire was aimed towards him. He would probably escalate the situation to the worst case scenario, so you had to play the peacemaker, you concluded to yourself. What is it with boy’s fighting like dogs all the time in this world?

“You look better now, Micah was it?” Murdoch said, with a sneer, closing the distance so that Zeus and Bacchus stood shoulder to shoulder, he wasn't taking any chances here, that was for sure. 

“You too would look better, but with a bullet in your head.” Micah said, as he reached for his gun. You had to act quickly, or else there could be serious consequences ahead for the future and your plans, plus you had grown fond of Murdoch during the 2 months you'd stayed with the O’Driscoll’s, he was like a big brother to you, soon to be a father, he was going to see his child, you would protect him now.

“Enough!” You screamed, to the both of them throwing them off their game, and making them reach for the reins of their horse, as your voice spooked their horses, but not yours, luckily. 

“Micah, be nice and you too ya old grump!” You scolded them both, they were like children in your eyes right now, a firm hand was needed to diffuse this situation. 

“He started it!” Micah said with a sneer, as he looked Murdoch up and down.

“Then I’m finishing it.” You said with a sigh, as you pinched your nose, fed up with this situation already, it was so illogical to you. 

“Fine then, how are we going to settle this then?” Murdoch said, as he looked at you, he was not following you at the moment. Unsure, where you were going with this.

“How about an offer?” You said in an enticing tone, everyone likes a deal don’t they, you thought to yourself.

Now both of the men looked at you, equally confused with what you just said, but you knew sorta where you were going with this. Micah was a survivor, it was the one thing he kept saying in the game, so you decided to pull his strings a little. Dutch was a sinking ship, heading for the bottom of the sea. Surely, Micah wouldn't want to stay with a delusional and doomed gang leader?

“I take it that Dutch ain’t going to let me go in the near future, eh?” 

“Well, no, but what deal did you mean?”

“Just trying to get you to see clearly here, in case you don’t get it, shall I carry on?”

“Fine, say your piece then Joey.” 

“As I were trying to say before you just had to interrupt me.” You said with a glare, to Micah, whilst pausing to make him get the point. “If Dutch can’t let me go and is still stupid enough to follow me, that means his loseing it. If he’s loseing it then he’ll make stupid decions, which means he’ll make a very stupid decions one day, that some gangmembers will pay the price for. That could be you, are you ready to die for no real reason Micah?” You finished, as you looked at Micah tilting your head a little to make him look stupid, your way on mocking him a bit for interupting you before.

Micah shifted in the saddle, unable to form words, but he seemed to understand what you were saying to some degree. Murdoch on the other hand got the hint, but he didn’t like Micah, so there was another problem. 

“Well, yeah he has been making somewhat bad calls of late. But how do you know any of this, have you been spying on us?” Micah answered back, he didn’t want to be on the losing side of the conversation, it made him look weak, Micah hated weakness before and it seems that he did so now too. 

You answered him by tapping the side of your head and looking at him with a slight snarl. 

“Yeah right, smart almost forgot about that. What’s in it for me, if I turn on Dutch?” Micah said, as he crossed his arms and leaned on his saddlehorn, he was at least hearing you out.

“You live, and get a chance to start over with the winning side, and you get a chance to make up for all the time we have been apart, we can do loads of fun stuff Micah.” 

“Whoa now, there princess, why should my brother and I accept him in our gang? Murdoch asked with a glare, he didn’t like Dutch’s boys, he still wasn't too keen on Sean yet.

“Micah here is very good with his guns, and at well other qualities I still don’t know about yet, but hey you liked Sean well enough.” You said, as you rubbed your neck, besides guns and pissing people of what else was he really good at? Knitting? Singing opera? You had no idea.  
“Wait, so it’s true Sean’s alive?” Micah said, staring between the both of you.

“She just had to save him, camp was much more peaceful without that damn ginger yapping all day!” 

“The Gray’s got him, I managed to save him just in time before they shot him.” You lied, as you looked at Murdoch, a serious face plastered on you, he better shut up about the truth on this one. 

“Okay, well that’s good and all, but I’ll have to think about it, it’s not something you take lightly changing and betraying gangs.” 

“Then take some time and think about it, heck ask a few of the others, they might want to join? Charles is useful, as are the Callender boys, maybe Arthur and John too.”

“Perhaps, perhaps not, we still have business in Saint Denis.” 

“We know, so do we, bet you’ll have a blast there, bye for now Micah!” You said, as you signalled Murdoch to follow you. The two of you rode in silence, until you reached the mansion.

“What was that about Joey?” Murdoch said, as he dismounted his horse.

“Just, rattling the cage a bit, a gang that is divided and doubtful of their leader, will only do one thing-” You answered, as you dismount your horse.

“Fall.” Murdoch said as he answered your sentence. “Good thinking, now I get why you played with that idiot for so long.” Murdoch walked up besides you, and put his hand on your shoulder. “You are going to the bank tonight by the way, you’ll be leaving in a few hours, so rest up a bit before heading out again, Colm’s coming with you on this one, I have another thing to do tonight.” 

“Well alright then.”

A few hours later

It was around midnight, pitch black outside and all of you were eager to go. Colm took the lead as you and a few other more experienced boys rode towards the bank. It was almost another city when it was dark in Saint Denis, it seemed so much more...sinister in a way. But that suited you just fine, the plans you had ahead were sinister, well to some people perhaps. Once the gang reached the bank building, you hitched your horses in an alley, hiding them from curious eyes, but you were vigilant, but it seemed like a quiet night tonight. Just one or two police guards wandering the block, so it was clear for now. Colm quietly, climbed the stairs with the gang in tow as you were heading for the room, where the hole in the floor was located. The hole was covered up by a tarp and a few loose boards, the bank downstairs had closed for a few days for *renovations* The boys that made the hole, had managed to persuade the bank manager to close the bank for a few days, as it was about to get mighty messy in the bank as they were about to patch up the roof, but that meant that you had a few days to set things up in the bank in peace, perfect. 

Entering the room, it was an empty room, nothing inside, but there were ropes in the corner to lower you into the bank. They had attached a hook in the roof, that was to help with all the lowering and raising of money that you were about to do in the next few days, perfect once again. Colm instructed the boys to set the rope up and move the tarp plus the boards before he walked over to you. 

“You ready sweetheart?” 

“Yes, finally we are going into the bank, send one of the best ones with me. He needs to count the money so we know how many fake ones we are going to make. Then he needs to open all the money boxes.” You answered Colm, hugging him tenderly, you were very excited to see your plan coming through after so long. Finally, it was happening.

“Sure, Declan goes with ya, if he does anything stuid you let me know alright?” Colm said, as he grabbed your chin carefully, making you look at him, to make sure that you knew that he meant business. 

“I will.” You said in a calm tone, as you quickly kissed his chin to calm him down.

“Ropes all set up and ready to go boss.”

“Yeah let’s get this done, we have been dying to know how much money there is in the bank.”

So you and Declan took the ropes and climbed down into the vault. It looked actually quite spooky down there in the dark, it felt like a mausoleum. But you had jobb to do right now, so there was no time to waste, every minute was to be used wisely, before the law started looking around or noticing things.

You had a light, a pen, and a note block in your hand, ready to write down all the numbers of the money, as Declan went to work on the money vaults.

“Well then, Declan I leave it to you with the counting of the money, whilst I visit the dear old safe there.

“Sure thing.” Declan answered, as he went off to where the money was and started counting, he too had his own light with him. 

You on the other hand, had your eyes set on the big safe and started cracking it. It was easier than you thought, so you opened it way faster than you thought you would. But there was no time to cheer, you had to count and make sure you didn’t miss anything, you had one chance at this after all. The vault was filled to the brim with gold bars, it was going to be a good haul in a few days time. The gold bars were counted, and reached the number of 40, which you wrote down, before you took one and put it in your bag that you had with you.

But as you placed your hand in the vault again, you felt something touch your hand, it felt like paper, so you decided to take it out and have a look at it, maybe it was a clue to another potential score ahead in the future? 

“Hold on, let’s have a look at this.”

“What did you find?” Declan asked, as he turned his head towards you for a brief moment. 

“Some document or something, gonna read it, might lead us to a future score.”

“Alright, you do that.”

Placing the paper near your light, you started reading it, it was a short message on the note, it read:

Dear Agent Milton,

I have heard your suggestions as to how we are to solve the matter in the counties of our missing pinkertons we lost in action, we have decided to grant you the sum of 400,000 dollars to aid in your quest to solve this matter. You are allowed by law, to recruit bounty hunters and fellow upholding citizens of the law, to aid in your pursuit of the notorious gangs: O’Driscoll’s, and the Van der Linde gang.

However do be warned, there has been rumors of an intelligent person aiding one or both gang with ingenious plans, the real name is not yet known to us, but it goes under the nickname “Joey” as is believed to be under heavy guard by whomever the gang, he or she is holed up with.

This person is to be brought to the confines of the law, alive as he or she, may be very useful to us in the future.

Signed 

Thomas Van der Brann

Your heart was pumping after reading that note, but you managed to write it all down in the notebook you brought. How on earth did they know about you? You were pissed that agent Milton had survived, and was on the warpath of both gangs now. But why did they want you from you really? You know what they would do to you once they got what they wanted, they’d kill you, eliminate all loose ends, or something else, there were no certain answers to your questions yet. But this was something you would have to tell Colm about, for the first time, for you don’t know how long, you felt scared and lost,this didn’t happen in the game.

“Alright, I’ve counted all the money here. It's 200.000 dollars here, set up in 100 stacks bills stacks, should be easy to fix, how about you Joey?” Declan asked, snapping you out of your thoughts and forcing you to focus on your task.

“40 gold bars, so all in all 400,000 dollars, very good haul indeed.” 

“You done down there? The law is starting to get a little too close for comfort out there.” Colm said, as he looked down at you from the hole in the roof.

“Yeah we done, Declan you finished there and closed it all?”

“Yeah”

“Then you go first, I gotta close this monster of a safe.” You said, as you pushed the heavy door shut. Declan was climbing up the rope and was about halfway up before you managed to close that door, before you too, started climbing the rope. It took about 1 minute or 2 before you managed to get up to Colm, the gang was covering up the hole with the tarp and boards.

“Alright then, let’s leave before we get unwanted guests, boys.” Colm ordered the men, before you all snuck out of the bank quietly and mounted up on your horses and rode back to the mansion. The boys were almost bursting at the seams, out of the joy of knowing how much money it was in the vault. it was a huge sum for this time, enough to retire them all for the rest of their lives. 

After you had arrived back at the mansion and dismounted you felt the urge to tell Colm what you found out in the bank, but you wanted to do this in private.

“You alright sweetheart, you been awfully quiet for a while now?” Colm said, as you walked into your room, he closed the door behind the both of you, He looked at you with a concerned face, he didn’t like it when you got too quiet, he knew that it meant that you were usually about to shut down, or that something was up.

“Found an interesting letter in the vault in the big safe, addressed to an agent Milton, a pinkerton agent, that unfortunately survived, we are taking their money that they are going to use to rebuild the agency again and I found something else in the letter too..” You paused, you really didn’t want to say more…

“What’s that then?” Colm said, as he placed his head on your shoulder, hugging you from behind, wrapping his arms around you, making you feel secure and safe. 

“They are going to use all the bounty hunters that are around and train them, then train lawful citizens to hunt your gang and Dutch...then they were looking for me, wanted me alive, said something about how I could be useful to them and all that. Got me a little worried that’s all…” You answered him, feeling so small and weak next to him, unsure what to do still.

“Well that ain't gonna happen darling.”

“How can you be so sure? They can always get money elsewhere as still build up their stupid agency.”

“Because, once we get that money, we will disappear, and find us a nice place to retire.” Colm said, as he kissed your head. “It’s a big country, we will find us a good spot to hide and retire on with the gang, then we live out the rest of our days in peace.” Colm finished, he sure sounded convincing right now to you.

“Got it all figured out now, handsome?”

“Yeah, besides I heard that you are going to get your wedding dress tomorrow, we should get hitched soon too.”

“Got wedding fever, have you now?” 

“I am, when I know that I’m marrying the cutest girl I’ve ever met.”

“And a real charmer too, lucky me.”

Yes, you were indeed lucky, Colm was right, once this score was done, you would then retire, what else could go wrong, right now?


	20. Mrs. O'Driscoll part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG, OMG, OMG...
> 
> I am cutting it up, I shall burn in hell..
> 
> Le spell? Que?

You were positively leaping out of the bed today, you knew exactly how to make the fake money, and gold bars. Colm stopped you though, he grabbed your shoulder and pushed you back into the bed, it seemed that he was in need of cuddles, but there was stuff to do.

“No, get back here sweetheart.” Colm said, with a yawn, he was still tired from the day before. He then snuggled up behind your back, and wrapped his arms around you, locking you in place from escape, this was a very effective method, well played sir, well played indeed., you thought to yourself. He was lucky that he was so darn cute.

“Hey, I gotta show the boys how they are going to make the fake gold bars and money.” You mumbled back to Colm, whilst you stroked his arms lovingly, he sure was soft on his arms, by the elbows.

“No, not yet. You are going to take care of me instead.” Colm mumbled, into your neck, as he nibbled you at your neck, eager for some attention. 

“You're lucky that you are so cute.” You said, as you snuggled up to him and gave him a head massage, braiding his hair, just to tease him further. He always said that he hated braids in his hair, yet he usually kept on behind his ear after you were done. Maybe you had soften him up a bit after all? He seemed so much happier and calmer nowadays, as if all he ever needed in his life was you, the last piece of the puzzle that life had handed him. You two were happier and calmer now, who knew that a big bad notorious outlaw was just like you, afterall everyone deserves a chance in the end. Except Dutch, he was a big arseface to you still, damn pig.

The two of you layed in bed until the clock was almost 11, Colm seemed to melt under your hands when you gave him any form of affection, was he touch starved? Or just secretly very cuddly? It was hard for you to decide. But once you finally was allowed up from the bed, he was still on you, touching, flirting and leaning against you. It seemed like he couldn't get enough of you today, no matter what you did, it was adorable in your eyes. 

“Sure are cuddly today, handsome. Worried that I’ll disappear into a cloud of smoke all of a sudden? You teased him, as you nuzzled your head against his arm, rubbing in your scent into his shirt. 

“Have a surprise for you today darling, you’ll have to wait and see until later today.” 

“Surprises? Well I do like surprises, as long as it ain’t too big tough, if you wear anything pink, I’ll take you to a doctor.” 

“Very funny, I ain’t gonna spoil it. You just show the boys how to make the fake money and gold, then you go with Bella then she’ll show you the rest later.”

“Okay then, secrets it is” 

You left the room and wandered outside, to show how to do with the gold and money, you decided to show only the most attentive to detail and those who actually possessed a brain. Which left you with about 5 guys in total, but it was good enough for what you were about to show them. 

“Alrighty then, whom among you are good with crafting things?” You asked the men, eager to get started. 

“Declan, here is the best at making fake money.”

“Ludwig, is the best and the best at crafting various items.”

“Ludwig? Hang on, where are you from with that name?” You asked, hoping it would be somewhere near home, that name was still rare at home, but there were a few with the name.

“Vi är från samma land” (We are from the same country.) He said, sounding a bit pleased to meet a fellow swede.

“Skönt, kan man prata normalt för en gångs skull.” (Nice, then you can talk normally for once.) You answered him back. Ludwig was a stereotypical swedish man, tall, blonde, blue eyed, and looked like he could split you in two without breaking a sweat.

“Kan du göra fejkguld bars som denna?” (Can you make fake gold bars like this one?) You said, as you pulled out the real gold bar from your pocket. It was about 15 centimeters long, but had a little weight to it.

Ludwig looked at the real one for a bit, before he spoke. “Kan jag göra, men vad vill du ha dem gjorde av?” (I can, but what do you want them made off?)

“Tänkte antingen, tegel eller lera, som man sen målar i guldfärg, så dem ser riktiga ut.” (I thought either brick or mud, that you later paint in gold paint to make them look real.) You said, as scratched your neck, the other men looked at you, utterly bewildered, they maybe got a few words, but then looked mighty confused about what the two of you were saying. 

“Ta tegel, lättare att fixa, samt lättare fixa med vikten, samt lättare att måla på.” (Take the brick, it’s easier to fix and easier to fix the weight and to paint on.) Ludwig said, not a moment's hesitation, it seemed that he really knew what he was doing.

“Okay, do that.” You said.

“Will do.”Ludwig answered, as he wandered off with the real gold bar as a reference, before he stopped. “How many?”

“40.”

“Okay.” Luwdig answered, before he walked off to make the fake ones.

The rest of the men, which were 4, just stood there and looked at Ludwig and then you. They seemed confused, so you decided to ask them what was wrong.

“Something wrong?”

“You got a mighty strange language, you swedish folk, sounds german.”

“Yeah, I didn’t get a word of what you were saying to him.”

“People call our language strange, but your’s sounds stranger to me.”

You looked at them, eyebrows slightly raised. “Really, I sound weird? And yes on that german comment, or language is slightly related to theirs.” 

“Can you understand more languages than your’s and english?”

“I can, but I can’t speak it too well, but I understand danish, norwegian, can’t speak it, but I understand a few words here and there in german. 

“Damn, that’s a lot of languages.”

“Shite, and I barely can speak irish as it is.” 

“Teach us any swear words, will ya?”

You felt a bit flaterd after all the compliments you just received, but there was no time to start a language school, there was still work to be done today. “Sure, but not right now, we still have to make 100 smalls stacks of fake money.” You said, slightly embarrassed from all their compliments, it was not that much really, but you felt a bit flustered.

“I got that handled, but how do you wanna make them?” Declan asked, slightly annoyed or pissed, you couldn't quite decide.

“Just cut up some paper, dye them the right color of green, then only make a proper fake money bill for the top one, heck throw is some fake heads of people you like, oh and some insults, then just stack them up and you're done.” You said to Declan, not wanting to annoy him further, he made you slightly uncomfortable. 

“That would actually save us a lot of time your way, alright then, let’s get to work then boys.” Declan said to the other men that were around him, before wandering off towards the house by the stable to make the fake money. 

You were still slightly amused, did Colm and Murdoch take in a fellow swede just so you had someone to talk to? Or was it pure coincidence, but you had no time to think about that as Bella walked up to you with a fast pace, it seemed that she had something urgent to say. 

“There you are! Have you told the boys what they are to do yet?”

“Yes?”

“Good! Now come one then, we have things to do, we have to pick up your dress among the things and ten there are other things in Saint Denis too.” Bella said, grabbing your arm and dragging you to a wagon which had Kieran in the driver's seat once again.

“It seems that you are the go-to driver here, ain't that so Kieran?” You teased him, as Bella tried to practically shove you into the wagon.

“In with ya Joey! We have lots to do!”

“I-it would seem so.” Kieran answered you, as he turned red, and Bella finally managed to shove you fully in the wagon by now.

“Ouch! Damn, why are you so pushy today?”

“Oh no, you ain’t getting anything out of me Joey, just you wait and see for today.” Bella said with a grin on her face, crossing her arm over her slight baby bump, that you didn’t notice until now.

“Also heard about your pregnancy from Murdoch yesterday, congrats you’ll look like a pygmy hippo by the end of your pregnancy, Bella.” You teased her, as you stuck your tongue out at her.

“Oh, very funny, just you wait until your pregnant Joey, then I’ll tease you back.”

“Mhmm, we’ll see about that, wait how old are you anyway? I never got your age, but I know by the fabuless way you look, it ain’t much.” You said to her, practically buttering her up so good, that she could be dripping with butter.

“Haha, you are good with words, ain’t ya? It’s 32, by the way, and yes I am fabuless you are correct on that.” Bella said, as she dramatically tossed her hair, just like a maybelline commercial, Bella was fab just like you.

“Ohh, gonna get a big sis soon, ohh the hell we’ll make together, also I call dibs on their ribs though, it hurts the most if I kick them there.”

“You are such a weirdo, you’ll fit right in.”

The wagon had almost arrived at the tailor’s by the time you both had finished talking, once the two of you started talking time just flew away. Kieran stopped the wagon, dropping the both of you by the stairs to the store. Bella looked at you excitedly, she was maybe more excited then you too see the dress. You were afraid of how you would look, but you followed Bella into the tailor’s to pick up your dress. Bella practically ran over towards the wedding dress section, her grip on your arm firm, as she dragged you with her. 

The little lady was there by a desk and looked at you with a smile, it seemed that she was eager to see you in the dress again. 

“Hello again my dear, are you ready to try on your wedding dress? It came out perfectly, if I must say so myself.”

“Well yeah, let's get this sorted out then.” You said, as you walked into the dressing room, fearing that you would look horrible in the dress by now.

As you were undressing and getting ready for the dress, Bella entered your dressing room, she was so excited to see you in your dress again, she looked like she was about to explode. But you just shook your head and continued undressing yourself. A few moments later your wedding dress was handed to Bella, who in return helped you get into the beast. The dress luckily didn’t have a train, thank god, or else you were sure you would totally trip, those trains are deadly to say the least. Bella was helping you lace you up nice and tight, to make sure that you wouldn't get any oxygen, it was very thoughtful of her. There sure was a lot of those strings or whatever they were called to fix, as Bella was still lacing you up after what seemed to be 10 minutes. But you were patient and didn’t rush her, perfection takes time after all. 

“There we are Joey, laced up and ready for action.” Bella exclaimed with joy, before she walked out of the dressing room to sit down by the pedestal outside, she did have a small bump on her stomach by now, but it wasn't so big, that was the reason why you missed it before. 

You on the other hand, added the veil to your head by yourself, it was the least you could do after all, lacing up this dress sure took a little tool on Bella, so you felt a little bad for her, she needed to rest a bit. You walked out of the dressing room, all dressed up and ready, the dress sure did flaunt your hourglass figure quite a bit, but you didn’t know what you looked like to them yet, so stepped up on the pedestal and tried to look at the mirror through the veil, you managed to get a few glimpses, you didn’t look half bad after all. 

“Stunning my dear!” The old lady said, as she walked around you and looked over the dress, to see that everything was in order, luckily everything seemed to be so too, as she didn’t do anything with the dress. 

“Now we only need to fix your hair and a few other things and you’ll be ready.”Bella said, as she stood up from the chair she was resting in. What did she mean by fixing your hair? You had no wedding date yet. 

“We'll figure something out, back home.” You said, as you looked at your reflection in the mirror, you wondered what your family would do if they saw you in this dress, it felt sad to not have them here in this special moment. You missed them more than you thought you would, but as you looked in the mirror, you thought you saw your mom and dad standing by your shoulders looking back at you with a smile. They were there, but yet again they were not, you lifted your arm, almost waving at the mirror, wishing they were here too. But their faces faded away as you waved, they were not there, it was just your mind playing tricks with you. 

But you wished that they could step out of that mirror and be with you right now and be here. But reality is cruel, they could not come to you here, tears gathered in your eyes, but you wiped them away before they poured out.

“You alright there, Joey?” Bella asked in a worried tone, she stood next to where the reflection on your father was, but she was there now. It seemed like the mirror was talking to you. She was your father’s eyes here, perhaps? You didn't know, but you decided to believe that she was, just to put your heart at ease for the moment.

“Wish that my parents were here, that’s all, bet my mom would be so excited and cry, dad would be proud as a rooster or more.” You said with a sigh, you felt so alone, yet you were not. There were no words to this empty feeling you had in your chest. 

“Where are they?” Bella asked, as she calmly rubbed your shoulder, and looked at you in the mirror.

“Gone..” You said, it was not true, they were back home safe and sound but here, they were not present. Dead in a way, so you decided to pretend that they were, you had lost them...they were not there..ever again...Your chest felt so tight, it was as if you were suffocating, after saying that word. Your head was spinning with words you didn’t want to hear.

“You will never see them again!”

“You abandoned them!”

“Broke their heart’s you did!”

But you didn’t do that, you just somehow appeared here, they didn’t, you didn't abandon them, you just...vanished in thin air to here. Pinching the sides of your head you tried to stop more of those words, laced with hurt to speak to you anymore. But Bella saved you.

“It’s okay, they may not be here with us right now, but I bet that they are looking down at you from the clouds at you today.” Bella said, as she hugged you, tearing down the walls of doubt and painful words that were filling your head. She saved you time and again from yourself. The greatest enemy you had here, was not Dutch, pinkertons or any outlaw out there. No, it was you.

You were your own greatest enemy, you could destroy yourself in a way that you couldn't explain to anyone, not in proper words anyway. 

“What did you mean by them looking down at me today, by the way?” You asked, as you desperately wanted to change the mood. 

“That’s the surprise, sweety! You are getting married today, in about 2 hours, that’s why you haven’t seen Colm or Murdoch so much. Those bugger’s have been fixing things behind your back and all, they had to be sneaky, or else you would figure them all out.” Bella said in a cheerful voice, she seemed ecstatic about you getting married. So that was why she was so eager to get here today? 

You suddenly were left speechless, that had gone to all this trouble for you? You were nothing special, just a person who had seen bits and pieces of what would/could happen, giveing you a head start in some areas. You were damaged in heart and mind, Colm could surely do better than you, you thought to yourself, heart heavy, as you doubted yourself yet again. 

“He deserves someone that’s more then me, someone who’s not broken, I’ll just slow you down in the end Bella..” You said in a sad voice, so low in volume that it was almost a whisper. No, you couldn't slow them down, burdens you get rid off after all. 

But Bella just sighed and leaned her head against yours. “You will never be a burden to us, if you were, you wouldn't be here today. Besides, Colm will never find anyone better than you, he wants you, no one else.”

“How do you know this?” 

“When it’s just me, Murdoch and Colm around and talking, he only talks about you, always in his mind you are.” Bella said, as she raised her arm and rubbed your head in a motherly grace, you remembered this touch, mom used to do this so long ago back home, when you were little, you responded by leaning into her touch more, you felt as you were back home again, for a brief moment, it calmed you down more, putting almost all your doubt and worries behind you. 

“Guess, I got him good.”

“You did, now stop worrying, you’ll be fine. If you ever need someone to talk to you have me and your crazy brother Sean to talk to. 

“Speaking of that, where is my Sean?”

“You’ll see him at the church, scrubbed and cleaned, you would not believe how hard it was to get him in a bathtub, had to almost throw him in.” Bella said, as she released her hold on you and made you stand straight again. 

“I would perish without you Bella, I know that you're hiding a halo and wings there somewhere.”

Bella just laughed and smiled at you. “Well this angel is going to fix you up for church, so let’s get you fixed up for that then.” Bella said, as she led you with the help of the little lady into a backroom in the store, it was perfectly set up for preparing a bride for a wedding. It had light, mirrors, makeup, your missing silver shoes with those cute little bows on them, and her red dress from before. She got the dress afterall, she hid it here for the wedding, that sly woman. 

You sat down on the little chair in front of the mirror, as the little lady and Bella, removed your veil, and looked at color options for your lipstick that you were going to wear. It sure felt nice, being this pampered and looked after, feeling like you belonged here, it was a lovely feeling to have a sense of belonging, everyone wants a place where they belong, we are pack animals after all, it’s in our nature. 

Bella started to fiddle with your hair, she seemed to have an idea what to do with it. Your hair sure had grown a lot since you came here, past your shoulder blades by now. “So, I was thinking about putting your hair in a long braid, since I know that you'll fit in it, then we decorate it with some flowers in it, sound good?” 

“Sounds good, go for it!” 

The little lady had finally found a lipstick color for you, as she showed it to Bella and she nodded in approval. 

“You are gonna have a pink lipstick on today, then a natural, but slightly shaded eyeshadow, a simple yet elegant look.” The lady said, and you agreed with her, not too much, yet elegant. So you nodded your head and gave her permission to go ahead with her idea. 

So there you sat, getting utterly pampered, Bella braided your hair and put some white flowers in it, after that she started to get ready herself. The little lady did your makeup perfectly, when she was done with it, you looked in the mirror and did not recognize yourself, was that you? But you were forced to move away from the mirror, as it was now Bella’s turn, the little lady’s husband had entered the room and was helping you fix the veil in your hair, it was way more work to that then you thought, but he got it at the first try, he had to have done this a few times before. 

Bella had a bit more makeup on her than you, but she looked just as stunning as you, but she had a nice almost oxblood colored lipstick on, she looked like a princess herself too. You had a few moments left to spare before you were about to go to the church.

“We forgot one thing Bella.” You said to her, in a teasing tone.

“Oh no, is it something big?”

“No, you know, something new, something borrowed and something blue, but since our boys are very attached to green, I need something green to add.”

“You are right we need something green, wait, I have this little clover I got from Murdoch long ago, I can put it in your hair.”

“Sure go, ahead.” 

Adding up the last details which were your shoes, and Bella’s and you were ready to go to church. So you were led by the owners through a private corridor which led outside, just so that you didn’t make people faint at how gorgeous the both of you were, and not to dirty your expensive dresses. You were met by a fancy looking Sean and Murdoch, once you got outside. The two of them stared at you for a few moments, taking in how fabulous you both were right now. Murdoch moved over to Bella quickly, helping her get into the carriage that they were standing in front of, she needed rest, the lady was pregnant after all. So you were briefly left with Sean, who looked like a puppy, all big eyes and all.

“Jesus, that you sis?” Sean said, as he walked up to you and started to attempt to try and help you into the carriage.

“No, it’s her ghost Matilde, here to haunt you, for your lack of personal hygiene. Of course it’s me, ya nut.” You said, as you elbowed him right in the stomach playfully. Sean looked amazing, had a nice black tux on, but with a green neckerchief on to signal that he now indeed was an O’Driscoll too. 

“Ouch! Not the ribs, I need them, when I sign’s ye’ the songs of Ireland later at the party!”

“The hell you will Sean.” Murdoch said as he smacked Sean at the back of his head. You are still lucky that she calls you her brother, been giving me constant headaches since day one, ya damn ginger.” 

“Hey! Show some love for ya boy Sean, will ya? We are soon to be brother’s!” 

“Don’t remind me, idiot!” Murdoch hissed, at Sean. 

Sean finally managed to help you into the carriage, not ruining your dress either, well done indeed. What followed as you entered the carriage, was a short ride to the church, you noticed that Murdoch was in the same outfit as he wore at the Mayor’s ball, but that didn’t matter; he looked very nice in that. As you arrived by the church, you saw that it looked the same as in the game. A beacon for the religious, but a beacon covered in dirt and mud, but it was still impressive in size. Bella and Murdoch were the first ones to exit the carriage, then there was Sean and well then there was you, wobbly and nervous, you hoped you didn’t dive into a mud puddle once you excited the carriage. But somehow you managed to get out just fine, still white and clean, you saw that there was a lot, and you mean a lot, as in big letters a lot of O’Driscoll’s guarding the church and the whole block sureley, it seemed that Colm wasn't taking any chances with your safety, he knew how close Dutch was to Saint Denis. It left you wondering why he didn’t go all crazy on him after the ball, but hey you can’t know everything. So you started wandering towards the church doors, probably getting a few glances from the gang members, as you did hear a few whispers here and there and your name mentioned. You were busy focusing where you placed your feet, tripping was not something you wanted to do right now. But you managed to get safely inside the church, it sure was deceptively big once someone stepped inside it. You saw Colm near the altar at the end of the church, with a gun aimed at a terrified priest. How romantic, get hitched and shoot the priest? Ain’t that the opposite of a shotgun wedding? Whatever it was, it amused you alot, you managed to cover your giggles and smile under your veil. 

As you reached Colm, he looked you over and eyed Sean to get away from you, by waving the gun at him and ponting him to stand by his brother, so he could keep an eye on him. 

“Can’t her own brother stand next to her sister today Colmum?” Sean said, pronouncing Colm’s full name perfectly.

“Not a chance, and you’re adopted not related by blood. Besides, I don't’ trust you as far as I can throw you, boy.” Colm said, as he rolled his eyes at Sean, but he soon focused his attention on you, he too wore the same clothes as he did at the Mayor's ball, but he looked just as gorgeous now as he did then. 

“You look stunning sweetheart.” Colm said, as he approached you and removed your veil, and the both of you could see each other clearly now. You had butterflies in your stomach, but when you looked at him, it felt as if all your worries and doubts left your mind and body. That act alone made you love him even more, if that now was even possible. He stole your heart the first moment you saw him here again. His eyes didn’t look so sad anymore as they did in the game, they looked like they were filled with love now.

Love for you..

And only you, according to Bella, she once again was right, you two were meant to be, at least that was what your heart said. 

Colm turned around, cocking his gun at the terrified priest. “Short version priest, or I’ll put a bullet in ya.” Colm said with a hiss, as his brother joined in and laughed at the priest. 

“R-right, do you ehm, Joey I presume, take Colm to be your awful-”

Colm didn’t find that funny though, as he shot the priest in the foot, making the poor man yelp at the pain, but he was forced to stay on his bad foot, by a glare from Colm. You on the other hand, struggled to keep Sean quiet and yourself.

“What was that again? Colm said, with a sneer at the priest.

“Lawful!”

“That’s better.”

“As I was saying, do you Joey, take Colm to be your lawful husband, and all that follows as long as you both shall live?

“Yes.” You said, as you struggled to not start laughing at the poor fool of a priest.

“And do you Colm take Joey to be your lawful wife, and all that follows as long as you both shall live?” 

“Yes, but you won’t live to see it.” Colm said with a grim voice as he shot the priest right in the head, as his work was done with the both of you. Colm then grabbed you by the shoulders, practically yanking you off your feet, as he gave you a passionate kiss with some tongue, before he gave you a genuine sweet smile back to you, before he placed a gold ring on your finger then his own. 

“Guess your my sister now then.” Murdoch said, as he playfully shoved you in the shoulder, a smiling Bella facing you, welcoming you to the family. “You're an O’Driscoll now, princess.” 

“Still haven’t got the hang of the signature..” You answered, as you gave them both a playful pout. “But hey, I got something better.” You said, as you locked arms with Colm, allowing him to lead the two of you outside.

“Told you that she was a keeper, brother.” Colm said, as he pulled you closer to him, leading you outside, with an overjoyed Sean in tow, that Murdoch kicked in the leg, to shut him up a bit. 

As you stepped outside, there was the carriage waiting for just you and your new husband, then there was another one behind your carriage, for his brother, wife and Sean. There were now even more gang members outside the church, it seemed that they wanted to congratulate their boss getting married. As you neared the steps leading down from the church you heard the gang shouting to Colm and you. 

“Congrats boss!”

“Time for us to start looking, eh boss?”

“Welcome to the gang lass!”

Colm loved every bit of it, he stood as proud as a peacock, as he helped you inside your carriage. You in the meanwhile, were careful not to tripp and ruin the moment. There was a fotografer by Bella, it looked like Albert Mason, he was taking your pictures, he didn’t say anything, so he must’ve gotten some good ones. As the two of you sat down in the carriage, as it drove off towards someplace in town for the reception in Saint Denis. You looked at Colm with a smile, he sat right next to you, both of you sure were lucky..to find each other.

Leaning your head onto his shoulder, you felt his arm wrap around your waist. “You managed to fool me, handsome, but I don’t mind that one bit got a big reward out of it.”

“What's that then?” Colm asked, as he leaned his cheek against yours, whilst the arm he wrapped around your waist, was paying attention to your thigh, slowly rubbing you, in a careful, yet affectionate way. 

“You..” You said, as you kissed his cheek, making him blush a slight shade of pink. 

“Wouldn't trade you for any money, gold, or diamonds in the world, darling.” Colm said, sounding genuine, as he kissed you back a bit more aggressively, a bit possessive. 

But it didn’t matter, as you both sat there, holding and adoreing each other as the carriage wandered down the streets to the reception you didn’t know where it was..

You were his…

He was yours…

For the moment the world was perfect and there was nothing bringing you down..

You had each other…

And that suited you both just fine.


	21. Mrs. O'Driscoll part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I adore the way thischapter came out, was very attentive to the details here, also sweet mother of fluff here!!
> 
> Spelling what is that?

The carriage that carried you and your now husband, arrived at its destination in Saint Denis. It was by that chinese restaurant you had caught a few glimpses at before. It felt exciting to be able to see the inside of the building now. But your new husband had other plans ahead. Colm took your hand, holding it gently in his, as he led you to the inside of the restaurant and led the two of you upstairs, where your reception was being held for the both of you. 

It was a big room too, filled with tables and some drinks at a table at the end of the room. There was some windows to the left as you entered the room, all of them facing towards the street, it actually looked quite nice in this lighting, as the sun was now beginning to slowly set for the day, the last rays of a late summer’s sun, litting the room and outside in shined in a fiery orange and red color. It looked very beautiful, there were a few gang members inside the room with Colm and you. There was Kieran, Simon, both dressed up nicely for the event. Then there was William and Seamus, and Ludwig you buddy from the same country as you. Sean and the others were starting to wander up towards the reception as you heard Murdoch yell at Sean, before he threatened to strangle him.

“Where is my sister at?!” Sean yelled, as he ran up the stairs, only to find your new husband aiming his gun at him, Colm sure didn’t like Sean's endless puppy energy. 

“Can you just shut up for one day, MacGuire?” Colm hissed at Sean, utterly fed up with your brother, lacking in both manners and energy restrainment.

“There’s the big man himself! My big brother, himself!” An excited Sean said, as he was practically bouncing at the walls by now.

“Don’t you ever call me that, boy.” Colm hissed at him, as he cocked his gun at Sean’s head. It would seem that you needed to save Sean, from himself yet again, you sighed to yourself. 

“Oh be nice to Sean, I'll let you kick him later if you're nice.” You whispered in Colm’s ear, making him smile as he put his gun away and focused on you instead. 

“Hey, ya didn’t mean that did ya, sis?” Sean asked, as he had a kicked puppy face plastered on him by now. 

Before you could answer him, Murdoch and Bella walked up the stairs and saw that Sean was in trouble with Colm, yet again.”Oh, please shoot him brother, he’s driving the both of us insane, can’t shut up or stay still for a second, the damn idiot.” Murdoch said, as he gave Sean an irritated glare, he too, was fed up with him for the moment. 

“She said, we can kick him proper later if we behave.” Colm answered his brother, as the both of them looked at Sean, with an evil smile on their faces, as Sean gulped and showed signs of fear. 

Luckily, Sean decided to keep quiet for now, and ran into your reception to get a bottle to calm his nerves. Colm and you on the other hand ,slowly walked up the the bride and groom's table to have a seat, Bella sat next to her husband, both of them to the left of Colm, there were two empty seats to your right, one for Sean, the other you did not know so you decided to ask them. 

Who’s sitting next to Sean, is it someone I know?” You asked Colm, curious about what his answer would be, was it someone you had never met before?

“Oh, that. Yeah, there is where my good friend Seamus is sitting, you know the one you threatened to slit his throat out with your spurs. You met him in Valentine awhile back.” Colm said, as he playfully nudges you in the ribs, he knew what you thought of his friend. 

“Shit, well this will be embarrassing.” You said, as you tried to hide your face behind Colm.

“No need to be nervous darling, he found it funny, ain’t often you get beat up by a woman.” 

“Ugh, this is so embarrassing, he will totally tease me.” You said to Colm, as you sat down at your table, Bella, Murdoch and a nervous Sean besides you. Luckily there was no sign of that Seamus yet. The gang on the other hand were starting to pour in by the minute, you had looked over the tables and saw that there were roses and other green flowers on each table, and white cloths on every table, there had to be at least 12 or 15 tables in total in the room. Many shouted their congratulations to Colm and even Murdoch, others just looked at you and nodded, before they wandered off towards the alcohol, then had a seat at their tables. As the room started to fill up, your new husband was busy chatting with his brother and Sean was busy talking with Kieran who stood in front of the table by Sean to talk to him. 

Your eyes wandered the room as you looked over the gang, you noticed in the corners of your eye now and then, that some gang members were practically staring at you. Did they hate you? Were you beautiful? Heck, were they jealous of Colm? You didn’t know the answer to your own questions, that alone bothered you a bit, but you decided to show no emotions to your thoughts and grabbed Colm’s hand, you were almost asking him, with your hand if he was still there. He, in response, just hugged your hand back and kept talking to his brother, but you felt calmer to know that he held your hand. 

Your other hand grabbed onto Sean’s, that was underneath the table. But he almost jumped out of his seat as you grabbed him. 

“Christ alive, what the heck was that, felt like a damn spider?” Sean yelped, before he saw that you looked at him with a slight frown on your face, could he not be discreet for 5 minutes of his life? “Oh it’s you sis, your hand scared me there.”

“Yes, it’s out for blood, you better look out.” You frowned at him, letting his hand go in the process, the noises and all the light and smells were beginning to get the better of you. But you kept soldering on for Colm ,you didn’t want to appear to be to weird today, so you forced yourself to stay, but the price was high for that, all your energy in your body was leaving you in a much faster rate than normal, to compensate with your senses being overloaded in the room. In the end you still had to leave, but maybe you could stay for a few hours, before you were utterly drained out of all your energy in your body. 

As you were thinking out a plan on how you were going to cope with your energy for the night, a familiar voice greeted Colm that caught your attention. 

“There he is! Married! Never thought I would see the day when both O’Driscoll brothers would be married. If someone asked me that a few months back I would say that they were mad and probably shot them on the spot!” The man said with a loud laugh, as Colm and Murdoch joined in with him in laughter.

“Seamus ya old bastard, where have you been? Where is William?” Colm asked Seamus with a smile, he sure did like this man and the other one.

“Well boss, William is out spying on good old Dutch, but he’ll be here later tonight, I’m sure of it. Me, on the other hand, had a leg to nurse back, as you remember.” Seamus stopped, as he looked at you and gave you a quick glance. “Knew you liked the feisty ones, didn’t ya, Colm?” Seamus asked, as he kept his gaze on you. But much to his disappointment, you showed him no reaction, no emotion, all you did was blink and looked at Colm, possibly creeping him out too, but you didn’t care for the moment.

Seamus seemed a little taken aback, his usual victims were propobally shouting and screaming in fear by now, but you just sat there and blinked. “Ain’t got nothing to say, sweetheart?” Seamus prodded, desperate to get a reaction from you, how very predictable, you thought to yourself. 

Your eyes slowly moved over to Seamus, before you spoke to him. “You're just as ugly as before.” You said with a sneer, to Seamus. Colm just laughed along whilst you spoke, he seemed entertained by your statement.

“Ugly? Now that’s not very original.”

“Can’t win every round, Seamus.” Colm said back to him, as he placed a hand at your back, not wanting to escalate the situation further. 

“Guess not.” Seamus said, as he rolled his eyes at you for a brief moment, before he sat down next to Sean. He started up a conversation with Kieran and Sean as he sat there, but you were not interested in that right now.

No, you were interested in your husband. It still felt strange and all, you were married and all, a wife, someone of value or else there wouldn't be a ring on your finger. So you turned your attention back to Colm, he sat in a bigger chair then you, if you both squeezed a bit, the two of you could fit in it. So you looked back at him with the cutest face you could muster and just looked at him and the chair, trying to get him to get the hint. Luckily he did that, as he moved over a bit and allowed you to sit on his lap, as he played with your back with his fingers. It felt nice to have his fingers dragging against your back, felt like a light massage, calming and relaxing, just what you needed for tonight.

Bella was easier for you to see now, whilst you sat in Colm’s lap, she was rubbing her belly every now and then. Was she in pain? Comptable? Or did the baby kick her already? Babies were not your area of expertise, Joey had never been interested in babies, they were weird, and screamed and annoying, so illogical at the most basic of tasks. Why did people want them? A headache for almost 20 years? But then again, in some rare moments there were times when you actually wished you had a little one of your own, if you had one they would be so smart and disciplined, you had little patience for bullshit. That and they would be independent, would know the ways or the world, black and white and all the lines in between. The world shows little favor for those who are unprepared after all, you knew that better than most, as did most gang members here too. They were surely not born with any special privileges in this world either. Just as quickly as the thought hit your mind, you let it slip away from your thoughts, like dust in the wind, focusing on Bella for a brief moment. 

“Alright there, Bella?” You asked in a calm tone, the fact was that you could not truely sympathise with her at this moment. Pregnancy was something you never had to experience yet. 

“I feel fat, bloated, hungry and yet sick. It’s all Murdoch’s fault here.” Bella said, as she gave her husband a small glare, yet it was filled with love. Those two were like peas in a pod, perfect for eachother. 

“Hey don’t you go blaming me again woman, you said you wanted a kid.” Murdoch defended himself, as he looked down at his wife’s small bump. He wanted a kid too, that liar was just playing tough, as most outlaws did.

“He has not even offered me a drink or anything since we got here. Can you believe that Joey, how should I punish him?” Bella said to the both of you, and sly smirk plastered on her face. Whilst her husband's face showed a twinge of fear in his, he knew what a little shit you could be at times. 

“Oh no, don’t you go encouraging her now, it’s her damn hormones or something that makes her this way.” 

But you just shifted slightly in Colm’s lap, whilst you thought of an answer for Bella’s question, Colm seemed to gain an interest for the conversation between you two, as he hugged your waist and held you firmly against him. In return, you rubbed his hands lovingly back, looking down at his wedding ring especially, before you had an answer to her question. 

“Obviously he’s broken, I recommend dropping him from a height of 2 meters, once he hits his head well enough, there might be some logic smacked into his skull. If that doesn’t work, put him in a room with Dutch, after 2 minutes in there I bet he’s all cured.” 

Colm was snickering behind your back, Bella started giggling too. But not Murdoch, oh no, he gave you a “really” look back at you. 

“Damn barbarian Joey, you can’t be that cruel can ya? Put me in a room with Dutch for 2 whole minutes? I’d rather shoot myself.” Murdoch said back, after he gave you a cold stare, whilst he pinched his nose and lowered his head in defeat, he had learnt that you were quite difficult to beat in a game of ‘who can annoy the other the best’ Joey usually won the ronds. 

“I didn’t say that you would be there unarmed, did I?” 

Murdoch suddenly raised his head, and looked at you with a beam in his eyes, now that answer he liked. “Now that would be the best solution.” He said, as he laughed and looked at Bella with a smirk. “See, cured? Happy now?”

“Sure, as long as you help me move once I get big as a house.”

Colm decided to turn your attention back to him now. “Won’t give my brother a break will ya? Bet you two will get in all kinds of trouble in the future.” Colm said, as he kissed your neck gently, whilst hugging your waist tighter, if that now was even possible, you were practically glued to his front by now. 

“You gave me permission to torment him, remember?”

“I remember, I didn't know that you would win all the time though.” 

“Can’t help it that I’m that good at tormenting people, it’s a gift.”

“Sure is, you’ll have to teach me some tricks.”

“I will, don’t you worry.”

Some more time passed on in the room, food came in as you all ate. Then there was the cake and all, along with many drinks for the gang and everyone else there. Colm and you had moved from the table and wandered out to a small balcony that was facing the small street below. Just in front of the balcony was a decently sized tree, with lanterns hanging on it’s branches. They were lit now, as it was getting very dark by now. But that didn’t matter to you, everything you ever wanted and wished for, stood next to you. If only Dutch and those Pinkertons weren’t there too, then there would be utter peace for you. But then again, there were still more people you needed to save before you were truly at peace, saving Sean was just the tip of the iceberg, there was more that needed to be done in the depths, the very rot of Dutch’s gang. Abandoning the others was not really on your list. 

Sure, you could’ve saved Bill, but was he worth saving? All he did was hurt, talk, drink, that and being stupid. But that was still no excuse for what he did to others around him. Javier was doomed from the beginning, you could not save him even if you wanted too. But you didn’t want to save him, even if you could. The way he abandoned Arthur in the game, a man he called his brother, that had his back for years, for Dutch? For loyalty? How can someone be so blind? Didn’t he see his brother there? Pale? Dying? Blood in his eyes? A man on the very edge of death? How can you be so heartless, no you would not do nothing for him. He killed himself for..words that meant nothing as well..

Then there was the others in the gang, the girls would be fine no matter what. So they didn’t have your attention as much as the others. Hosea and Lenny were on your mind for the time being. If you didn’t do anything now, there was a high chance that they would perish, just as they did before. But you would not let that happen again, no never. You had a plan to save them, Dutch would sureley rob the bank the same way as before, loud and stupid. But since Abigail was out of the picture, that meant that Hosea would have to have another one with him for that distraction. 

Hosea liked Lenny after all, and Lenny liked him back in return. Perhaps if you thought hard enough and carefully, an opportunity would present itself so you could perhaps save them both? Gripping onto the balcony rail, you felt stuck in your head and your thoughts, the day had worn you out, you were tired and spent. But you were also happy, you had Colm with you, for now and till the end of your days. You hoped that those days were far ahead, if you lost him or others you cared for right now..

You would lose yourself too…

“I can hear your thoughts in there, sweetheart.” Colm said, as he placed his head on your shoulder, he stood behind you, hugging you as he had his head near yours.

“Just thinking about that bank should be quick and simple, just put the fake ones in colored bags and then put real ones in some other colored bags and it should be easy to fix all the money and all.” You lied to him, it felt wrong but what else were you to say? That you wanted to save almost everyone in Dutch’s gang and have them in his? That would not be wise right now, and you didn’t want to spoil this newlywed feeling either, it just had to wait awhile for the truth. Hoping one day, that you could tell him and that he would somewhat understand. 

“Don’t you worry your pretty lil’ head about that darling. We have it covered and we’ll fix that bank in a day or two.” 

Sighing, you leaned your body back against him, he sure knew what to say at times to make you feel less worried. “I always worry about things, won’t calm down easily for nothing, you know that right.” 

“I do, but look at where you have led us in this short time you’ve been with us. None of this would have happened, if it wasn't for you and that smart lil’ head of your’s.” Colm said, as he kissed your neck and head from the shoulder he was resting his head on.

“Yupp, lucky guy you are.” You teased, as you poked Colm’s nose playfully.

“Hey!” Colm protested, as you poked him. “I’ll get you back for that’

“Shaking with fear here.” You teased back, feeling playful you wanted to annoy him for a bit. He did marry you, so he had to be trained so he knew you inside out for the future ahead of you both. Wriggling out of his grip, you playfully pinched his nose again before you jogged inside, ready to play your games with him. Giggling, as you jogged away from him. 

“Get back here, we ain’t done yet!” 

“Nope! Can’t hear you!” 

Colm started to move away from the balcony and was in a hot pursuit after you by now. Joey had finally figured out what game to play with him, a classic hide-and-seek, perfect! As you had already a head start you had wandered to the other side of the building, it was a wedding suite there, some other rooms there too. Most of them were unlocked. So you snuck inside a room and hid from your husband, whilst trying to hide your giggles, and placing your silver shoes outside some random room as bait and distraction. 

It was as if you were young again, well younger, a child perhaps, since you played this game. You hid yourself in a big closet filled with long coats and other things, luckily your white dress managed to blend in well there. The hard part was to silence your giggles and snorts, if you didn’t cover them soon, Colm would find you way too easily. It took you a minute, but you finally managed to get you giggles under control, being completely silent now. Nothing gave you away.

Then there was the sound of fancy shoes walking along the hallway you just ran in. These footsteps were Colm’s, you could recognize them anyday. He stopped a few meters past your door, where you placed your shoes as bait. It almost sounded like he picked them up, but then there was the sound of a door being opened, so perhaps he didn’t pick them up? He was just in the room next to you, looking and calling out for you, after a few moments in there, he opened the door again and wandered the hall again.

Now he was heading towards your room, but you were silent by now. Turning the doorknob, he opened the door as he entered the room. He walked past the closet first, looking for you elsewhere in the room, before he walked up to it again and opened the doors. You were practically holding your breath by now. Colm skimmed through the coats and other items in the closet quickly, by sheer luck he didn’t see you in there, due to that he looked so quickly through the closet, so you were in luck!

“Where did ya go?” Colm mumbled to himself, as he closed the closet and wandered out of the room. You on the other hand, couldn't believe how he didn’t see you in there, moving the coats and opening the doors, you sneaked out of the closet and placed your head up against the door to the hall, to hear if you heard him wandering about out there. But it was quiet out there, so you decided to make a break for it and sneaked into another room now. 

This room was placed right in front of the room you had just been in, but this one had better hiding spots. You had the curtains that were long and reached the floor, then there was another closet, smaller than the previous one, but if you wiggled a bit, maybe you’d fit in it? The last option in the room was under a desk but it had a chair in front of it, so it could shield you a bit, but still it wasn't the best option for you. So you decided to opt for the closet, yet again, but this one had dark clothes in it, so you stood out like a sore thumb in this one, if you didn’t cover yourself well enough in there. But you suddenly heard footsteps again in the hall, so you had to hurry now. It turned out that the closet was too small after all, you couldn't fit in it. Panicking a bit you quickly went over to the curtains and hid behind them instead. 

Just as you hid behind the curtains, you heard the footsteps stop by the door, then you heard the doorknob move. It seemed that you hid just in time, because by now Colm had entered the room, and was looking for you again. He must’ve known that you were in here by now, there not too many rooms in the hallway, so he took his sweet time whilst he searched the room for you, moving slowly about in the room.   
Should you jump over him? Or let him find you instead? Decisions, decisions, you thought to yourself, still keeping as quiet as you could. But it seemed that he had an idea as to where you were by now. He looked through the closet, as you peeped out and glanced at him, whilst he had his back turned to you, He quickly figured out that you weren’t in there, so he wandered off and kinda tried to feign ignorance to your hiding place. Oh, he knew where you were, alright. But you had hidden yourself in the corner of the curtain, so you weren't that obvious either way. 

Suddenly, Colm lunged at the curtains and grabbed you by your waist, before he slung you over his shoulder. “Found you! Got me looking for you awhile there, sweetheart, smart move with your bait too, but you are going to pay for making me look for you that long.” Colm said, in a playful tone as he carried you out of the room, towards the wedding suite that you saw earlier. 

Oh boy..well you were in for a rough night now. Colm seemed mighty pleased with himself though, as he caught you by himself, and was flirting with you as he carried you towards your room, he was holding you by your butt. He was such a damn tease! But this was to be expected tonight, so you went along with it all, you were tired now, but Colm on the other hand, seemed to have an endless amount of energy in him still. Whilst he opened the door to the room, he still kept you on his shoulder, before he turned around and locked the door, to prevent you from escaping again.Ohh, you were in for it now. Once he locked the door, he placed you down on the floor gently and kissed your forehead.

“No fair, I didn’t find any good hiding spots.” You pouted at him, whilst sticking out your tongue a bit at him. 

“Got me wandering around here for 20 minutes or more. I’d say you found some good spots.” He said, whilst he leaned his forehead against yours for a brief moment, before he sneaked around you and started to undo the laces of your dress. 

“Hey!” You scolded him playfully, but you kept still and allowed him to continue with what he was doing.

“My turn.” Colm said, as he kissed your neck slowly and sensually, whilst doing a good job of undoing the laces to your dress, it would seem that your new husband had a great deal of experience in this area, you took a mental note on that, as you quickly undid your braid and removed all the items you had in your hair. Once you were finished, it seemed that he was finished as well, it didn’t feel like there were any more laces left back there. So he dropped your dress to the floor, leaving you there almost naked, but the thing was that you had other ideas in mind.

You quickly ran to the bed, hiding under the covers once you were free of the dress. But being the tease that you were, you undid the other items you had on under the covers, which included, a kind or bra that you had on, and your underwear. Whilst very suggestively dumping the clothes to the side of the bed once you got them off. Colm wasn't pouncing the bed just yet, so that must’ve meant that he was undressing himself as well. He seemed to be desperate though, as he undressed himself much quicker than you, before you felt him wandering about in the bed. Hiding under the covers, you wrapped yourself up tightly, there was still some fight left on you. 

“Aren’t you gonna let me in?” 

“Do you know the secret code then?”

“Hmmm, lemme think now..” Colm answered, as he laid on top of the covers, squishing you a bit, but it wasn't too bad. 

“ I think it is me, that is the secret code?” 

“Dammit!” 

Colm laughed, as he dove down under the covers with you, as you let him in. He seemed very pleased that he got it on the first try. He was nipping you bottom lip, hungryly and eagerly, wanting to enter your mouth. So you opened your mouth for him, as he attacked your mouth hungrily in an instance, pushing his tongue deep inside your mouth, asserting his dominance, as he had full control over your mouth by now, he could do what he wanted with you and you’d have to comply, but you didn’t mind it one bit, it was kinda kinky and hot when he took full control over you just like that, it turned you on. 

It seemed to turn him on too, and his cock was at full attention, and leaking pre-cum onto your thighs as he laid on top of you. He was going to cum soon, if he kept this up. He was grinding his hips at your entrance, whilst he kept kissing you fiercely and hungrily. He didn’t have to grind too much near your entrance though, you were already soaked well enough as it was by now. But he keeps teasing you, moving away from your mouth as he starts to play with your nippless now, biting and sucking at them. Propobally leaving a few bruises and bitemarks along the way, but you wanted him inside you now, so you wrapped your legs around his hips, whilst you wrapped your arms around his back, pushing him against you, trying to get him to take the damn hint.

“Not yet darling, still gotta pay for making me look for you..” Colm said, in between kisses, panting a bit as he spoke to you.”Don’t you go making a habit of that, ya hear?” He said, as he bit you at the base of your neck, before he started to lick you down between your breasts. He was almost making you cum on this alone, by all that kissing. “Answer me, sweetheart.” 

“Fine, I won't, unless you need to be punished for something naughty.” You teased back at him. No, you wouldn't let him win this round so easily yet. Pushing him closer to your chest, he was just in reach for a forehead kiss, so you kissed him. “I love you, more than I can put into words you know that, right?” You said, in the sweetest tone that possibly had ever passed your lips, he got you good, with all his charms, teasing and patience with you, when your nerves were acting up. How could you not love him back for that?

Colm stopped for a brief moment as heard those words. “I know you do” He said back, as he rubbed his forehead along your belly, before he decided to move and place himself directly in front of your entrance. Rubbing his cock on the outside of it, he still was eager to tease you for just a little moment more. But he wouldn't be able to do it for much longer, he was almost covering your thighs completely with his pre-cum by now. Teasing you for a few seconds more, before he gave in to his urges and started to painfully slow, pushing his cock inside of you, pushing ever so slowly inside your wet walls, as your body desperately tried to grab onto his cock and milk him for all that he was worth. 

“Always so ready, damn tight for me too, ain’t you sweetheart?”He teased, as he pushed himself to the base of his cock inside you, fully sheathed inside you now. Rolling his hips a bit, as he wanted to be placed in a better position over you now, hitting your sweet spot, unknowingly as he moved around a bit. In response to that, you wrapped your legs tighter around his hips, he was so close to making you cum. He needed to move soon, or you would make him move, this was driving you insane.

Once Colm was pleased with his position above you, he picked up the pace and started at a medium pace at first. Finally moving inside you, he was already hitting that spot inside you. Colm himself was all over the place, panting and licking your breast and belly, before he stopped mid thrust inside you, making you cum hard as he stopped, before you looked at him, with confusion plastered to your face. What was he up to now?

“Get on your knees sweetheart, I wanna try something new.” He said, as he quickly pulled himself out of you, making a wet sound and he was out.

“Alright.” You answered, as you quickly raised up and stood on your knees and arms as he ordered you to, before you looked back at him. Now what?

But as you stopped moving, Colm jumped onto your back and quickly mounted you again, sheathing himself fully inside you in one quick thrust. Before he grabbed onto your waist and slammed into you even harder now, you knew what this position was called. You were doing it doggy style, kinky you thought to yourself. This new position hit your spot easier and seemed to drive him almost feral. Colm was biting at the back of your neck and back, as he was thrusting himself deep inside you, he was a little heavy though, you were the one holding you both up. But he was so caught up in the moment, he started to go even faster now, pushing hard against your walls, as his cock was throbbing, he was going to cum soon. A few more harsh thrusts inside you and he cum hard and deep inside you, painting your womb white, whilst he cummed inside you, he bit you at the base of your neck as he came, making you cum with him. His arms had moved for your hips to your waist, squeezing the air out of you as you moaned loudly once you cummed with him.

Your head was spinning, as Colm kept going for one more round, before he once again, cummed inside you, filling you up with his seed completely now. Before you collapsed onto the bed, utterly exhausted and spent for the day. Colm came down from his high soon after you collapsed on the bed. But he didn’t pull out of you though, instead he kept his cock inside you, as he snuggled up against your back. The two of you were utterly exhausted from the act, before you both started to fall asleep, you kept playing with his hand awhile before you fell asleep. 

The last words you heard before you fell asleep were Colm saying that he loved you more, back to you.

You fell asleep with a smile of your face and heart, feeling lighter in your heart and head then you had done in years..

Love truly is a blessing..

You hoped that this feeling with him would last forever..

You loved him more then there were stars in the sky, more then there were planets in the galaxy..

He loved you two..


	22. How to rob a bank 2.0

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just this one, then shit will hit the fan for the others!!
> 
> Getting real exciteing now!
> 
> Spell? No?

As the sun was rising in your bedroom window, the two of you were ever so slowly starting to wake up. Colm was still inside you since last night and he wasn't awake either, neither were you really, still tired from all of the events since yesterday. The wedding and all of the activities after, had taken a toll on you, still not fully rested, then Colm had taken a toll on you too. In other words a double whammy for you. So you just blinked a bit and looked around the room, before you snuggled back up against your husband and drifted off into a light slumber. Today was the first official day that you were a wife and you were also eager to go around and explore Saint Denis before all the, well you could call it chaos ensued, couldn't you? But for now you were being spooned by Colm and loving every moment of it. 

It felt like he was still a little aroused, even in sleep, he was still fully sheathed inside you since last night. The man deserved credit, he was a good lover, and quite the kisser too, then he teased quite well, though you would not tell him that. Surely that would only encourage him to be even worse in the future and you didn’t want that. You began to wonder which kind of state Sean got into last night, drunk, really drunk, or totally shitfaced? He had to be checked upon once you got up, but you still had Colm inside you and he was still out, you didn’t feel like you wanted to wake him up just yet. So the two of you laid there and rested for a while longer. As the sun began to rise further, the room started to get brighter as well, in the heat of the moment last night, you had forgotten to close the curtains, the sun was shining right in your face, but your head gave Colm’s face shade, as he was still sleeping in the crook of your neck, drooling slightly onto you, but hey, that’s natural and means that he is relaxed. 

But you began to get tired of the sun shining in your face, so you shifted your body ever so slightly, to slowly wake your new husband up, as the sun was giving your eyes hell. It felt as if someone was pouring acid into your eyes, making your eyes tear up, it hurt. Colm started to move a little bit and grumbled, before he went back to drooling on you again. It seemed as if he would need some more encouragement to fully wake up. Now, what were you going to do about that? You thought to yourself, slightly unsure as to what to do, this dilemma was new to you after all. Wait a minute, an idea struck your mind. What if you pushed back into him? That would surely wake him up, he was still hard and all.

So you did just that, trying to make it seem as if you just did it out of pure innocence. Pushing back into Colm, not too hard yet not too lightly either, in response to your pushing and grinding, Colm finally started to wake up, little by little. Until he finally woke up, you couldn't see him, as he was behind you, but he started moving behind you and grabbed onto your waist and placed one of his hands onto your hip. He started to nip and bite at your neck again, just like last night, it seemed that Colm had a biting fetish, as long as it wasn't too hard, you would get on just fine, if it made him happy then there was not a problem for you. He started to move his hips a little, moving his cock inside you, just where he left off last night.   
“Eager ain’t cha?” He teased, as he picked up a medium pace and thrusted inside you, it still amazed you how quickly he could recover after your brutal rounds, he was in a way starved for you, and that was very hot.. 

“Finally awake? Was starting to go blind from the damn sun here, since some eager handsome fella forgot to close them last night. Any idea who that might be?” 

Colm grumbled in between his thrusts, before he answered. “No idea, can’t be me, I was busy with other things.” He said, before his hips started to falter, he was very close to cuming inside you by now.

“I bet it was.''You panted back to him, he was dead on your special spot yet again, it seemed he knew exactly where it was inside you by now. He kept thrusting a few moments more, before he once again painted your walls white with his seed and slowly pulled out of you. After he was done, he started to cuddle you, hugging your waist, and pushing some of your hair out of your face. He sure woke up in a good mood today, but that was common among newlyweeds. 

“So, what's planned for today then handsome?” You asked, as you traced your fingers along his arm closest to you. Before you grabbed onto his hand and started massaging it, you knew that he loved you massages, it made him melt into putty beneath your careful, yet strong hands. 

“I talked to my brother last night about the bank, we have it all set up for the switch. So we are doing that tonight, but for the day we can go around the city and do anything we want for the day.”

“That bank thing will only take a few minutes, we have everything ready and all. So let’s just walk around today? It seems fitting given what will happen to it in a few days” You said with a steady voice, it would indeed be fitting to enjoy the city before you unleashed the storm upon it, that you had been planning for so long.

“Can’t argue with you there, sweetheart. Got any ideas in that head of yours on how Dutch will hit the bank?” Colm asked curiously, it seemed that he wasn't sure on how Dutch would do it.

“Now that’s easy. He will go in there guns blazing and just walk straight up to the vault, propobally take a few hostages and force the bank manager to open the vault. But he will need to create a distraction before he does that, to distract the law, I suspect an explosion of sorts. I suspect that Hosea and some other person will be with him doing that though.” You said, as you wondered whom Hosea would take with him, since there was no more Abigail, you had seen to that personally.

“Hmmm, go on.”  
“It will fail, but you should grab Hosea and whomever he's with. I’m sure that will make Dutch really mad. He can’t make any decisions without Hosea, it makes him weak. It’s easier to deal with him once he hasn't Hosea around him. He could be very useful to us. He’s probably just as smart as you and me, and your brother.” You said to Colm, as you snuggled up against him, hoping he would take the bait to grab Hosea, this was probably your only chance of saving him. 

“Hmm, I think you're right, besides any chance I get to make Dutch’s life hell, I will gladly take .Alright, I will send some of the boys to grab him and his friend whilst they make that distraction, well attempt to distract, as you already called him out.” Colm said with a huff, be he seemed pleased with your ideas for now. A huge wave of relief washed over you, Hosea was going to live, one less to worry about for the moment.

You and Colm got out of bed after a little more cuddling, cleaning yourself off in the bathtub and getting yourselves dressed, before the two of you wandered down to where the reception was yesterday and ate some late breakfast. Whilst you sat there and ate, you saw a few gang members here and there. Murdoch greeted you, as did his wife. Kieran walked in with a grim look on his face, you asked him what the matter was. All he could answer was that he had a killer hangover, but he had looked after Sean last night. The both of them were apparently becoming the best of friends quickly, but last night Sean got into a fight while he was drunk as hell yesterday. The fool got into a fight with a door and lost, surely that would be something only Sean could manage, right?

“He did what?” You asked Kieran.

“Got into a fight, he thought a door was a lawman, tried to attack it, before he hit his head into the doorknob and passed out. Had to carry him to bed and all.” Kieran said with a smile, before he groaned and put a hand to his hangover head. 

Colm found it hilarious and laughed at the story Kieran told. “Damn idiot that brother of yours is a door? That’s gotta be a record.”

“Well at least it wasn't something that could fight back really. Like a wall of a floor.” You teased back, Colm was right Sean was an idiot, but he was part of your family. That made him the family's idiot.

“Or a cactus.” Colm continued.

“Yes, that would have been very prickly, indeed.” You said, oh how you loved puns sometimes.

“Very funny.”

“Of course it was funny.”

Once Colm and you were finished eating, the two of you decided to go out into the city for probably one of the last times in a long time. It was beginning to get cold in Saint Denis, it was now early September, but the heat from the summer wasn't quite gone yet, it was around 16 C out, so not too cold just yet. The pair of you left the building, you were staying in and wandered towards the center of the city, hand in hand, Colm wasn't afraid of showing some level of PDA, hand holding was just fine to him, which made you very happy. You secretly loved holding hands, you did it when someone you used to know was alive. Once that person died, you never really held anyone's hand ever again. Hand holding was something precious to you, only that special someone, who made you as happy as the person you lost, would ever get to hold your hand, that person was Colm. It made your heart happy, to have someone holding your hand again, it had been so long since the last time. 8 years? 10? It was so long ago...way too long.

Colm and you, were of course followed by guards, but from a distance as he wanted to be left alone with you for the day. He too seemed relaxed to be left alone from the gang for today, it sure is difficult to get a break if you're the boss of a big gang. Seeing him relaxed, only made you happier as well, he did deserve a break. Colm and you wandered towards the big Saloon’s direction, but you went past it for now. You were actually following him, he was leading and Joey was following, he steered towards the little square by the tailors store. Did he need to get anything? You thought to yourself. 

“Need anything from the tailor’s store?” You asked, as you started to approach the store in the distance.

“Yeah, need a few things and you need some things too, sweetheart.”

“Now what could I possibly need?” You teased him, carefully elbowing him in the ribs. 

“Green.”

“Green? Well, I don’t really have anything green in my wardrobe, guess you're right about that.” 

You entered the store together a pickpocketer tried to rob you, but stopped dead in his tracks once he saw Colm’s face, turning pale in his face, as he bolted out of the store, scared for his life. The O’Driscoll’s weren’t known to be quite that friendly. So that was still the same as before, but they were maybe a little better then they were in the game. The little old lady that had helped you with the wedding dress from before, recognized you instantly and greeted you eagerly.

“There she is! How did it go on the wedding, no problems right?” The old lady said with a smile, as Colm looked over the items he needed in the catalogue. 

“Everything went fine, no problems, no rips or nothing. You did a good job with the dress, made my husband there drool all over me.” You said, as you discreetly pointed at Colm with a smile. The old lady laughed, it seemed that she was pleased over herself as well.

“What can I tell you, my dear. Been doing this for a long time now. I know what I’m doing.” She said confidently, to Joey. She sure was good, you had to give her that.  
“What kind of ring did he give you?” She asked quietly, as she gestured towards your hand. You lifted your hand, that had all your rings and proudly showed them to her.

“My, my, look at all that gold, one emerald, some diamonds too. You are a lucky girl indeed my dear.” The lady said with a smile, as she let go of your hand. Yes, you were lucky indeed to have him. Life felt like it had more meaning now, it felt better, more complete, once you had saved the others from Dutch then you would be totally complete and at ease with life. But for now, life was good.

Colm was done with the things he needed to tend to and wandered up towards you and the old woman. “What are you two gossiping about?” He teased, as he grabbed your hand again and led you towards him. 

“Just congratulating the bride, you are a lucky man indeed. It’s rare to find a beauty such as her, getting rarer by each year.”

Colm scoffed at the lady, but there was a slight smile hidden on his lips. “Course I am, I know how to pick them after all.” With that, he led you out of the tailors store, before he shortly stopped near the stairs. He gave you your very own green neckerchief to wear. It was a small thing, but it seemed to be very important to him, touching in a way. 

“There, now everyone can see that you belong to me, That and I can finally have my own neckerchief left in peace.” He said to you, still trying to act like a big tough outlaw, but you saw right through him. He just wanted to show everyone that you belonged to him, a bit like you were his property.

But you wanted to give him something back, there was that silver chained necklace with the tiger on your neck. Perfect, you would give your favorite necklace to him, it was fancy enough that a man could wear it, without feeling, ‘feminine’ as they would say. 

“Well then, I have something for you to.” You said, as you took off your necklace and placed it around Colm’s neck.”There, my favorite necklace, for my favorite person, looks good on you.” You said, as you touched it around his neck. It sure looked nice on him. 

Colm touched the necklace, looking at the animal, looking a bit confused, it seemed that he didn’t quite know what animal it was. “What animal is this then?” 

“It’s a tiger, my favorite animal. They are known to be fierce, wild, proud and can not be tamed or broken. Suits you by the way.” You flirted back, as you managed to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. Making him turn a very faint shade of pink on his cheeks. 

“Well ain't that something. Well I agree with the proud and fierce thing and I can’t be broken either.” Colm said proudly, as he took your hand again and led you towards another part of the city. You were now walking towards the street that led past the theatre, if only you could go in there one day and see something. Sure, it would probably not impress, or entertain you in the slightest, but you would get to be in there, amongst that beautiful theatre, the details in the wood and the rooms, now that was way more interesting then the shows to you. But you remembered something that you had forgotten to ask Colm, what about the trolley job? Would Dutch still try to hit it after all?

“I heard Seamus say something yesterday, that some guy named William was watching over our old friend, is he still going through with that trolley thing?” 

“No, don’t think so. It seems that they are more interested in the big job first, perhaps later, they might do that thing.”

“Alright, good to know.” You said, as you two walked past a newspaper boy, that was shouthing on about a ferry that was robbed. The poker ferry to be more exact.”Hmm, so when did he do that poker thing? 

“Yesterday, apparently, but we were never interested in it, to little of a reward compared to what you handed to us by the way. But that has given us some problems by him doing that job, though.” Colm said a bit irritated back.. 

“Ohh, and what’s that?”

“The boys have seen a whole lot of Pinkertons around the big police station, they are all over the city, hiding and waiting for one off us to slip up. We also saw a few of them bounty hunters around, then we saw some people that were either law or bounty hunters that turned Pinkerton, so we can’t stay here for that much longer.” Colm answered you, as he looked around, to make sure that neither of you were being followed, but no one was for the moment. 

“I see, then we should leave the mansion back at camp soon. But we can’t go back to Thieves Landing though, would be too obvious. Is there somewhere by Big Valley that could hide us for a while once the heat of all this dies down?” You said back. 

“You know, that's exactly what my brother said, sweetheart. He suggested a big ranch by Big Valley, called Hanging dog ranch, we should be safe there for a while. Should hide most of us, hard to sneak up on either, as it has a full view from almost every angle around it too.” 

“Have you told the others to move out from the current camp?”

“My brother gave the order yesterday, it should take a few days for all of us to move out, since there’s so many of us, now that they got all excited about the city and that.” Colm said in an excited voice, he seemed eager to get this bank job done and all. 

“We're almost there, handsome, just one more thing to do, then we just have to wait for our grand idiot to arrive.”

“Yes just one more thing.”

The rest of the day you spent wandering with Colm, looking around the city, walking through the market, eating at the saloon, before you headed back to where your reception was held, now you only needed to wait for a few moments more. 

4 hours later…

It was dark outside now, the boys that had the fake gold and fake money had arrived. They had listened to your suggestions, the fake items were in red bags, the real items, that you would steal at the bank would be placed in black bags, easy yet effective. Colm was right though, Saint Denis was in a highly altered state, not full alert but close enough to it. There was now way more law out, patrolling the street. So the gang had decided to walk over to the bank, only taking a few horses with them to carry all the items. Murdoch came along this time, he rode to the bank. As did you and Colm, but the two of you shared a horse, he didn’t want to raise any unnecessary attention, a gang all on horses, would make too much noise and draw the laws attention to them, even if they didn’t do anything. 

As you arrived at the stairs that led to the empty room to the bank, once again, there sure were a lot more gang members coming along this time. As the gang quietly climbed up the stairs and entered the empty room once more. A few gang members set up a sturdy rope to the ceiling where a hook was placed, whilst the others moved the boards and tarp, to once again expose the hole in the roof that led you straight down to the vault and safe, with all that money. 

“Alright then boys, we do this quickly and quietly, no room for any mistakes here, there is a whole army of law and Pinkertons outside,thanks to good old Dutch mistakes. Now go down there and get our money, that my wife has so nicely provided us, won’t you boys?” Colm said, as he pepped up the boys up for the job, it felt strange to be called a wife, but you would get used to it in time. 

“Sure thing boss.”

“You got it.”

“Thanks for the money Mrs.O’D.”

With that, the boys climbed down into the vault, quietly and carefully. Before one stood under the hole in the roof and looked at you for a brief moment. “Hey Joey, what's the code for the safe?” He asked quietly, as the men looked at him then at you.

“Okay, it’s 76 left, then it’s 54 right, then back again at 13 left.” You answered the man back.

“Okay, you got it boys?”

“Got it.”

Most of the men were clearing the money each box one by one, once one side was done, the others that had the fake money filled it up again. The others that had received the codes to the safe, had finally opened it, and was pulling all the remaining 39 gold bars out, before they filled it up with the fake gold bars, that were just gold painted bricks filled with curses, utterly hilarious, you couldn't wait until Dutch found out that all his work was for nothing, now that sight would be something to see. Once they were all done, a rope was lowered down to them and fastened to each of the bags, as they were carefully pulled up, one by one, it took a few minutes until they were all up, then they started pulling the men up.

You were all making good time, the boys outside still gave you the all clear. Everyone had been so quiet and careful, barely making any sound, the bank had just been robbed for all they got and they had no idea about it. Hilarious, yet so exciting. 

“I have to give you credit, Joey, this idea was a good one. We just got ourselves 400.000 dollars, without wasting a single bullet or losing any of the boys.” Murdoch said, as he patted your shoulder, he seemed to be proud of you.

“What can I say? I’m simply the best.” You teased Murdoch back. He sure was a good friend, once you got him to like you and all, the big grump was secretly a big softie under all that bloodthirsty demeanor.

“Maybe, now once we get all our money out, we just have to wait for our entertainment to arrive. Got any ideas on how to make him hurry up a little about the bank?” Murdoch asked, as he started to move towards the exit of the room, whilst ordering the boys to cover it all up again, and to take away all the evidence of your presence there. He also ordered the boys to make sure that the builders of the roof were to fix the hole tomorrow, removing all traces that the gang had ever been there. 

“Yes, just make a few boys wander around the bank, make it look like they're looking for a way into the bank. That should get Dutch eager to get going himself. Baiting him in a way, if that is the words for it.” You said to Murdoch, as you exited the room with the gang, Murdoch and Colm in tow. 

“Yepp, that should do it. You heard the lady boys, get some boys to bait out Dutch to the bank, after that we all move out to the new camp.” Murdoch ordered the boys, as he mounted up on Zeus. Whilst you jumped onto Colm’s horse, sitting behind him.

“Will do boss.”

“Can’t wait to see Dutch’s face, once he gets in that vault.”

“Alright.”

The gang then rode away, the few that had horses, whilst others walked off in different directions, some went towards the reception.Or they went towards Rhodes. As you, Colm and Murdoch arrived back at the place where you held your reception, they finally burst out laughing and cheered and started to drink, to celebrate their easiest bank robbery they’ve ever done in the gang's history. Everyone seemed to be overjoyed with the huge score they just did, sure was easy for them too. You had given them all the help and told them what to do, after all.

“Now that was so easy, that I almost don’t know if we just did that!” Murdoch cheered, as he opened a beer bottle. “Where the hell have you been hiding from us all this time Joey? If you had joined us a while back, I bet we would be miljonairs by now and all.

“Now be nice to my wife, brother. She just gave us 400.000 dollars and no one, not even the law, knows that we robbed them yet!” Colm cheered, as he sat down into a chair, and placed you into his lap, he was proud over you.

“Biggest take we’ve ever made and to top that off, it was the easiest too. Went through the roof, got praised for it too. These city slickers are idiots, I tell ya!” Murdoch answered his brother, as he continued to drink his beer, whilst the other gang members cheered on at their huge take, it was nice to see them all this happy. 

“Well, we can give Dutch a little more hell if you want. I happen to have all the materials ready.” You said in a sly tone, now this one thing you had in mind would in a way help them.

“Ohh? Now what’s that then?” Colm asked, as he wrapped his arms around your waist.

“Cut off some exits that he may use, forcing him to take the walk of shame out of Saint Denis.” You answered him back, trying to feign your excitement in your voice as you said it. 

“What do you have in mind then?” Murdoch asked, as he leaned in his chair and sipped his beer, whilst looking at you with curiosity. 

“Dynamite, to be more exact volatile dynamite. We blow up the trains and the boats, then he’ll have to take the walk of shame outta town.”

Colm and Murdoch looked at each other surprised at first, before they looked back at you, grins on their faces. 

“Now that’s just plain old cruel, let’s do it. The bastard deserves nothing but the worst.” Murdoch said, once again drinking from his beer. 

“Wouldn't want to be an enemy of yours, sweetheart, you are even crueler than us sometimes.” Colm said, as he hugged your waist a little tighter. But he was right, once you hated someone, you could be very cruel at punishing said person, if you felt the urge or need to do so. Now that would make you dangerous, would it not? You wondered to yourself for a moment.

“Perhaps,make sure that you watch them at Shady Belle as well. Bring some of the boys here once everything is in place, this will be a grand show too see afterall.” 

“Will do.” Colm answered as he drank his beer.

Yes, they were in for a hell of a show...Dutch had the leading role and didn’t even know it..

The O’Driscoll’s were in for a hell of a treat…


	23. Fool's gold part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is finally hapening!!!
> 
> Le spell?

A few days later in Shady Belle..

Micah’s pov:  
It was a sticky air clinging around the swamps near Shady Belle. Micah had managed to persuade Dutch to hurry up with the bank job in Saint Denis. You and Arthur had seen a bunch of O’Driscoll’s sneaking around the bank, they were fixing up to rob the place to, but Dutch wouldn't let that happen, so he had decided to put the trolley job on hold for the moment, once the heat had died down you would maybe return and rob the place.

But Micah believed that to be foolish, the bank job would set them up for life, there was no need to rob the trolley once the bank was done. Finishing his cigarette, he started to walk towards the house, if Dutch believed that everything was all set for the bank, the gang would maybe hit it today, or tomorrow. But this nagging voice had been in your head for almost two weeks now, her voice. She had told you to abandon Dutch and to take most of the boys with you as you left him. Saying that you would die for no reason, perhaps she was right, he thought to himself. 

Javier died for no reason, whilst looking for her. Bill got shot in Rhodes, whilst they were following Dutch’s orders. Abigail had been shot in the middle of camp. The gang suspected that she was killed by some angry Lemoyne Raider’s, the gang did steal one of their hideouts from them, after all. Then you had been shot too, in the butt. Arthur and John had teased you alot about that, saying that the camp’s ass now walks like one too. But they were your brother’s, so you had allowed them to tease you, for 15 minutes before you gave back at them with your own pranks.

Opening the doors to the house, Micah saw that most of the gang was gathered around the map at the table. Dutch and Hosea were having suggestions and ideas about the bank, but you were done with being stuck out here in this damned swamp, all you wanted to do was to rob that bank and get the hell out of there. Perhaps you could retire at some tropical island? Dutch had started to talk about some place called Tahiti, it was supposedly paradise according to him.

“How is it going boss? Do we have all things ready?” Micah said impatiently, as he leaned at the door frame, close to where Davey stood and listened to what Dutch was saying. 

“Ahh, Mr. Bell, yes I do think that we are almost ready for the bank job soon. All we need now is a good old fashioned distraction. I was talking to Hosea about that.” Dutch said, as he looked over the map and traced his fingers to a road that he thought was fitting for the distraction.

“We can set it off close to the fire station here Dutch.” Hoseas said, as he pointed at a certain street in the map. “Should buy us 5 minutes or more. I’ll take Lenny with me, I need a steady and cool head with me, if I am going to pull it through though.” Hosea finished, as he looked over to where Lenny stood at the opposite side of the room. 

“Won’t be a problem Hosea, I got your back.” Lenny said confidently to Hosea, The kid was eager, you had to give him credit for that.

“I know you will, son.”

“What about the O'Driscoll's, Dutch? We have seen a lot of them hanging about in Saint Denis lately, they could be waiting for us to rob the bank, then rob us of the score.” Micah said to Dutch, the bank was a risk, but one the gang was willing to take. But you still didn’t like having so many of the O’Driscoll’s near you in there. 

“Don’t you worry about that Micah. I don’t think they have planned out a plan yet. Besides we just robbed the ferry a few days back, there were no O'Driscoll's about once we got back into Saint Denis. Even if they are there, it seems that they are keeping a low profile. Which serves us all, we’ll hit the bank before them, then we will retire on some island, like Tahiti or Australia.” Dutch finished, as he rose up from his chair and lit up a cigar.

“If they are there, that means that she’s there too. Arthur saw her in that tailor store awhile back after all. She could be planning something against us, especially towards you, she can’t stand you for some reason I still can’t figure that out. Then I met her again after that ball and she claimed that Sean is still alive. I don’t know if she told me the truth, but she told this to Arthur too.” Micah finished, as he wandered away from the door frame he was leaning on, following Dutch as he wandered out of the house, to smoke his cigar on the small patio to the side of the house. 

Dutch sighed, as he leaned against a pillar, whilst smoking his cigar.”She could be lying, she could be telling the truth. I don’t know, I’m not sure about this. They are using her against us to make our lives hell, Micah. After that fiasco in Rhodes and us bumping into then at the mayor’s ball just like that, it can’t be a coincidence. Nearly ripped my hand off too. Then we heard from Trelawney that there was a wedding in Saint Denis, the damn bastard Colm O’Driscoll married her too. That man keeps stealing from me Micah, he will pay for it, in time.” Dutch said in an agitated voice, he was still angry for Colm stealing his girl, his source of plans.

“You gotta let her go Dutch, she’s turned and won’t come back. It’s just a girl.” Micah finished. All he wanted was to rob the bank and go. But Dutch were still stuck on that girl. 

“That girl makes brilliant plans Micah. If she was still here we would be swimming in money. Colm stole her and by doing so, he stole our source to make big scores. We are all struggling in her absence, Mr. Bell, besides I know that you miss her too, Arthur told me soo.” Dutch answered back to Micah, as he blew the smoke of his cigar towards the campfire. 

“I do not! Arthur’s a damn liar!” Micah shouted back towards Dutch. But he was secretly missing her a bit. The two of you were just as grumpy and got along just fine, that and she had been patient towards you. People didn’t do that towards you. It made you miss her a little bit.

“Denial, Micah, denial.”

Micah huffed at Dutch’s words, before he wandered away to cool his head with his gun or something else.

Dutch’s pov:  
Micah was right about one thing though, there was something odd going on in Saint Denis. Why hadn't the O’Driscoll’s robbed the ferry? It was a solid take on 5000 dollars after all. So why didn't they rob it? Now they had been seen sneaking around the bank in broad daylight. It wasn't like Joey to plan something that oblivious, she was usually very attentive to details. But you were still fuming with rage towards Colm, how dare he steal your girl from you? But you still couldn't understand why she stayed with them, they were just using her, sureley. But she did possess some kind of value to Colm, or else that bastard wouldn't have married her.

Colm was a dangerous man, there was no denial in that. For all Dutch knew, he could have faked the marriage to play with her nerves and mind, only to kill her once he had what he wanted from her. The O’Driscoll’s we're no strangers to killing women or even children at times. It worried you, once you had the money perhaps you could try and save her? Even if Hosea, John, Arthur and Micah kept telling you to let her go, you just couldn't let her go.

From the first moment you saw her beautiful face, with those rare green eyes, you were in love at the spot.

No you would try again, she didn’t understand him. That’s why she kept rejecting you time after time. That thing that she had, made her unable to understand your true intentions. Abigail had to fill her place briefly when she was stolen, but now she was dead and you had no girl to distract you for the moment. 

No, you would not let her go. The other’s opinion be damned. Dutch thought to himself. Tomorrow was going to be a big day after all, that bank was begging to be robbed.

The next day..

Joey’s pov:  
You and Colm were greeted by pleasant news this morning, as the both of you were eating breakfast, a gang member had bursted into the room, panting but eager to tell you the news.

“It’s happening today, boss! Not sure when, but it’s happening today.” The man said in between breaths. 

Colm looked at you with a smile, as he finished eating. “I guess we better get that dynamite in place then. Do you know a good place for us to watch this whole thing go down?”

“Big building on the opposite side of the street, big enough so most of the boys can see it all.” You answered, as you kept reading the newspaper, not even looking up as you spoke. But you were excited, it was finally happening, the fool had taken the bait. “Make sure that everyone has their body armor on, in case something happens.” You continued, as you kept reading the paper.

Colm just hummed in agreement.”Get it ready with the trains and the boats, send off the rest to Hanging dog ranch, Bella is to go with the boys to the ranch. After you cleared out the place in Rhodes, burn down the house and kill anyone that may have seen us there.” Colm ordered the gang member, before he wandered off to fix the things that his boss ordered.

Colm walked up behind you, hugging you as he placed his head on your shoulder. “Finally happening, are you excited yet? You seem so calm.” He said, as he nipped at your neck, eager for some attention. You replied, by raising your hand and petting his cheek lovingly, he sure was cute when he was like this.

“I am excited, I have a hard time showing it at times. Makes me look like I’m completely uninterested. Besides, this should be really interesting for you and your brother. Have you got the boy’s ready to grab Hosea and whomever he brings with him?” You asked him, as you looked at him, curious at what he was doing.

“Yes I have. Been a real good husband and all, listening to my wife and all. Ain’t you gonna reward me later?” Colm flirted, as he attacked your neck with kisses and some slobber.

“Sure, but you’ll have to wait until we are at that ranch. We got some work to do, like deciding where the best place is on the roof to watch this whole thing play out.” 

It was around midday that Dutch and the others had decided to rob the bank. That was at least what you recalled from the day, I couldn't have been more than 12 a clock, when they hit it in the game. But the O’Driscoll’s were up on the roof facing the bank at around 11. It sure was lucky that you suggested that building, because there were TONS of O’Driscoll’s up on the roof, it seemed that they were eager for some entertainment, afterall you promised them a grand show and you intended to deliver it to them. There were a few gang members here and there on the rooftops near the bank too. The docks and the trains were all set up as well, all that had to be done was to signal them and it would all go down in a cloud of fire and smoke.It was a thrilling day today. But you were starting to get to the end of your rope in terms of your own wellbeing and energy. All this planning and scheming and thinking of this and that, all the details, it had all taken a big toll on you, but you were a fighter you pushed threw it, just a little more, then you could rest at that ranch.

It was starting to get a bit cold now. It was autumn now and it was starting to get cold. So you were dressed in that nice coat you bought back in Blackwater all those months ago. It was the same coat that Micah wore in the camp back in Strawberry and it looked fantastic on you. A little big in the arms though, it was designed for men after all. Heaven forbid women with taste, in this time. You had managed to talk Colm and Murdoch into having Sean up on the roof there with you today. That boy was dying to see the grand entertainment that you all had set up. But you did tell Sean the truth, well kinda you had twisted it a little bit, but it was mostly true. Sean asked if the others had mourned or looked for him after he went missing. You had told him that they didn’t even spare him 5 minutes of their time, no instead they went after that damn Abigail. It seemed that she possessed more value to them than him. That was Sean’s breaking point apparently, after he heard you say that he was cursing up a storm against most of the people in the gang, mostly aimed at Dutch. He wanted to see him suffer and pay, all those years he was loyal to that man, only to be abandoned the moment he went missing and was presumed dead. But that worked in O'Driscoll's favor, Sean was now fully committed to them, having cut all ties to Dutch.

Excellent…

Sean was in a long black typical coat that the gang wore. Kieran was in the same coat as him too. Colm and Murdoch wore almost identical coat’s, the same one he wore in Ewing basin, the one with the fur collar. You had all taken places at the roof by now, most people up here had binoculars with them, snipers in case they had to shoot and they all had their armor on, that your’s truly had designed for them. Colm was right beside you on the roof overlooking the bank, you stood at the middle of the roof around that big clock and you were eager, well Colm seemed more eager than you if you were honest, he could hardly keep still.

“So, got everything ready to grab Hosea later?” You asked Colm, just to make sure he didn’t forget about that in all the excitement.

“No, got that covered, there are men overlooking the bridge and every street in town. We’ll be on him in seconds.” Colm answered, as he looked over the main street with his binoculars. 

“It’s finally happening now. I don’t think Dutch will bother us much after this. This will be one hell-of-a blow to him. He won’t recover from this easily. That and he’ll have those nice Pinkertons on his heels. I’d like to see him get up from that.” You scoffed, as you too took up your binoculars and looked out the main street.

“If he does, then he’s dumber than I thought. We are throwing him right at their feet of those Pinkertons. If he still tries something, then we outnumber him by a lot. Should be almost 20 to 1 in numbers.” Colm answered, as he looked to his right towards the road. 

“Hey Sean?”

“Yeah?”

“Get over here!”

“Alright, gimme a minute.”

“What is it sis?” Sean asked with a smile, but he seemed a little cold, it was a meager 9 C out today.

“Armor on?”

“Yes.” Sean said, as he rolled his eyes a bit towards you.

“Alright, just checking, I know how limited your, let’s say hearing and memory is at times. Also, I want you to stand here next to me and see Dutch and the others suffer, I mean, he did throw you away like a bad joke onced you went missing.” You teased him, Sean was so easily riled up at times, that it was almost impossible for you not to tease him.

“Damn fucker abandoned me, he’s gonna pay just jus wait and see. What, is ya boy Sean worth less then that whore Abigail? She didn’t even do anything, just whined, couldn't stand hell I tells ya!” Sean riled and whined, as he placed himself besides you. He didn’t like her? Then you might as well tell him the truth.

“No?”

“Nah, didn’t like her.”

“Then you will be happy to know that she is dead.”

“Good, who killed her then? Is he here somewhere, wanna give him a beer for that.”

“I killed here, sneaked into their camp at Shady Belle and shot her straight through her heart. Murdoch shot Micah in the butt. Good riddance to be rid of her.”

“You?!”

“Yepp.”

“Well….do you drink beer then?”

“Save ya drinks Sean, but feel free to give them to Colm or Murdoch later.

“Did someone say drink?” Colm suddenly said, as he looked at the both of you.

“Yeah, Sean wants to give you one later today.” You answered him back.

“Better be several, after this we'll throw one hell of a party.” Colm mutterd, as he looked down towards the street again.

“Ya boy Sean will give ya several Colm, don’t you worry.”

A few more minutes passed by, as the time slowly passed by up on that roof. It sure was cold up there today. But as the clock slowly ticked towards 12.30-ish some gang members started to signal that Dutch’s gang was moving towards Saint Denis bank. It was about time, you were almost frozen solid by now. Colm and Murdoch shouted some orders to the boys and a few went to intercept Hosea and whomever he had with him. Whilst you Colm, Murdoch, Sean and all the other boys, simply looked down to your entertainment.

They were all standing there, dressed in suits in autumn, sticking out like a sore thumb. It was so stupid, no one wore suits in the middle of the day near the bank in autumm. They were practically saying “Were up to no good” and they didn’t even seem to understand it either, now that you saw them in person and the environment it was not hard to know why they failed in the game. Dutch and the others had just hitched their horses by the street opposite to the bank, they were currently waiting for Hosea now. There was barely any time for them to wait as there was a loud bang at the other side of town. Good, now your gang would grab him and save him, Milton wasn't getting his hands on Hosea this time. You wondered what Milton would do now then. He had no hostages now, so what would he do this time? But you continued to watch Dutch and the others through your binoculars, they were storming the bank now, guns in hand and shouting at people. This was better than TV to watch!

“This is where he’ll have to slow down..” You said quietly to Colm.

“Whatchu mean?” Colm asked you quietly.

“He doesn't have the codes to the vault, nor does he have the codes for the safe in there. He’ll have to beat it out of the bank manager. Should slow him down a few minutes. Seen any Pinkertons yet?” You asked, after you explained your thoughts to Colm.

“I have actually.”

“Really, where?”

“They are currently running to your left, all gunning for the bank. There’s loads of them.” Colm answered you, as he pointed to the left side of the building. He was right, there were at least 30 or 40 or them. Milton was spotted in the mass that was heading towards Dutch. It seems that the gang had succeeded with grabbing Hosea, as he had no one with him, leaving him a little on the bad negotiating side. Now this would be interesting to see, you thought to yourself. 

“This should be interesting to see.”

“Yeah it will be, boys get to your places, Dutch is about to get shot to hell or something else that will be just as fun to watch.” Colm ordered the boys, as they were now practically hanging on the side of the roof that was facing the bank.

“Hell yeah!”

“There’s no way he’ll get out of this one!”

“50 bucks says that Dutch will get shot!”

As you were watching the scene unfold outside the bank, you saw Milton order a few of his men towards the roof and the streets around the bank. As he was done with ordering his men, he took a place behind a wagon and started shouting to Dutch, you listened in closely as Milton started to talk to Dutch. 

“Dutch! It’s over! We have the bank surrounded, get out now or we’ll open fire! There’s no need for bloodshed here if you surrender now! You and your gang can still walk away from this alive!” Milton shouted from the wagon, he was taking shelter from.

“Now why would I do that? Who the hell are you anyway?” Dutch shouted back to Milton, it seemed that he didn’t know who this man was. Interesting.

“I am Agent Milton from the Pinkerton Detective Agency! I suggest you surrender. I have men all over the city, there’s no escape for you here!” 

Ducth was quiet for a little while, before you heard laughter come out from the bank. “The Pinkertons are dead son! Why should I believe a word that you're saying?” Dutch shouted back to Milton, it seemed that he wasn't quite convinced yet. 

“We are back! The president himself ordered that our agency was to be restored, we have funds from the president himself as well as several important investors from all around the country! The time for you outlaws are coming to an end!” Milton answered back to Dutch. 

“America is supposed to be free, men made equal. It shouldn't be run by a club of wealthy and fat men, that know nothing of the world!” 

“You got 2 minutes, then we’ll open fire, be reasonable about this Dutch, you can still walk out of this alive!”

You and Colm looked at each other, a smile plastered on your faces. Dutch was screwed and he didn’t even seem to understand it. That and his stupid freedome speech again, so predictable. You pondered a bit, a thought came into your head.

“Should we join in on their conversation? They seem to be at a standoff.” You asked with a glee, ohh the fun you would have if you started shouting at Dutch now.

“Wait a little bit more, I want to see where this is going.” 

Looking back at the bank again, Milton seemed to give the order to fire, seconds later it was a full out war zone around the bank. What were they thinking? This would lead nowhere, sighing to yourself inwardly, they were so eager to shoot in this time, guns and bullets for your solutions. Whatever couldn't go more wrong? But you had enough of this. So you decided it was time to shift the odds for Dutch and Milton down below.

“Blow up the train and boats now, then we give them a nice wave and get the hell out of here.” You said to Colm, as he was eagerly watching the shootings down below, you had to shake him a bit before he had his attention back to you again.

Colm snapped out of his slight trance he was in, as he watched the fight below, but he looked at you now, a slight confusion on his face, it seemed like he didn’t hear what you just said, or maybe he heard parts of it.”Yeah why not. Boys give the signal to the others to blow it all up.” Colm ordered a few boys, as they eagerly went ahead and gave the orders to the others to blow everything up further downtown.

Meanwhile, it seemed that they were still shooting at each other down below, but it seemed that Dutch’s gang had managed to get a few Pinkertons down by now. Why weren’t they moving out of the bank yet? What were they waiting for? It was pouring in more and more people against them, you were unsure if you should use a sniper to shift the odds to Dutch’s favor, if only for the moment. He had to be alive to see your joke afterall. Suddenly, there were two huge explosions further down the street. It was your gang's handiwork, they had blown up the trains and the boats. There was a huge black cloud rising slowly towards the sky, it looked like it was engulfing the sun, it was so big. Like the devil's hand himself, was out to grab the sun from the heaven above.

The huge explosions halted the shootdown at the bank, as they started screaming what it was and looked towards the dock, this was your moment to shine. Nudging Colm and Sean quickly in their ribs, you pointed down towards the bank. “We really should give Dutch a nice wave and leave, the town will soon be overrun by the law, we need to get out now.”

Sean and Colm listened to your words and it didn’t take more to convince them by now. You were telling the truth, the gang needed to get lost soon. So to make sure that Dutch would see you up there, he fired his guns and ordered his men to give a hand for his grand performance. The men at the bank quickly looked up towards your roof after the gunshots. 

It had to be quite a sight for them to see, there you were waving at Dutch and Milton. Some were laughing and pointing at them, others just waved. Sean was shouting curses and insults towards Dutch. You flipped off Dutch, much to Colm’s amusement, Murdoch was laughing at Dutch, calling him a big fool, for thinking that he could pull this off. After a few moments of taunting them all and confusing them surely a lot. Everyone headed down towards their horses. There were a few stairs to climb down, but you all quickly headed down and mounted your horses.

“Dammit, my horse has been shot!” Seamus cried out, as he stood next to the corpse of his now dead horse. You had Bacchus with you and could ride double with Colm. So you quickly tossed Seamus, Bacchus reins. “Take mine and be nice to him, or else I’ll hit you with a lot of spurs.” You spoke quickly, as you mounted Brutus, wrapping your arms around Colm’s waist.

Seamus looked at you quickly, he didn’t expect you to help him. After all you had threatened to kill him, that one time. But nevertheless he took the reins you offered him and mounted Bacchus. “I owe you one lass!” Seamus said as he nodded to you. 

As everyone was now mounted on their horses, Colm and Murdoch steered the gang out from Saint Denis using the road towards the swamp, as it was the only one left that wasn't crawling in law by the moment. It was a scary ride though, you were glued to Colms back, the gang was riding at full speed out the city, a few Pinkertons looked at you, but they didn’t do anything. The O'Driscoll's didn’t rob the bank and they were currently chasing Dutch, so they just ignored you all for the moment. 

A few scary minutes later, the gang had ridden past the worst by now. Having just passed Rhodes now and heading towards Hanging dog ranch. Finally, you had gotten back big at Dutch, cutting him off almost completely in the city. There were very few options for him to get out now.You had a hunch that he would somehow find a way out anyway. He always managed to get away somehow, but this time there was no boat to Guarma and no trains to hide in. Only way out was the way he came in, or perhaps some other way he would find? 

Pressing your head against Colm’s back, a huge sense of relief washed over you. Sure, your body was still drained and exhausted since days and needed rest. But with all that in mind, you had just managed with this huge task, it filled you with a sense of pride in yourself. You had done all you promised the gang and in quite the style as you did it too. Surely that was an impressive feat? Now you could finally rest..

But you did wonder what was currently happening in Saint Denis with Dutch, how was he faring in all this chaos you had thrown at his feat? 

Was he falling?

Or did he have a plan?


	24. Fool's gold part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, I'm an ass a little bit in this chapter!!
> 
> Le spell of doom? Also try listening to classical chinses music, it's so pretty and beautiful!

Meanwhile in Saint Denis…

Dutch and the others had finally found a place to lay low for now. Mac had been shot in his arm as they fled across the rooftops. John was almost grabbed by the law, but was saved by Micah and Arthur just in the knick of time. They were all currently waiting for their next move whilst fixing up Mac in the room they were resting in.

“I can’t believe this!” John protested loudly to the whole gang, as he paced the room impatiently, irritated about all that had happened today. “This thing was a goddamn setup Dutch! What the hell were all those O’Driscoll’s doing here? How did they know that we would rob the bank today?” John continued, as he looked out towards the big fire at the docks, the trains and boats were all gone, those that weren’t sunken yet, were on fire.

Dutch groaned in the chair he sat in, as he looked towards John, tired but they did get the money. “I don’t know son, but we still got the money and were all here in one piece. Not too bad considering that the Pinkertons are apparently back.” Dutch said, as he looked towards the bags that had all the gold and money, still proud over the heist they just done. “But I agree with you with one thing John, I too would like to know why an whole army of O’Driscoll’s were here and just let us get away with the money, they didn’t do nothing, they just watched and laughed, what are they planning?” Dutch continued, as he scratched the back of his head.

“She didn’t lie, boss.” Micah said discreetly to the whole gang. “Sean sure is alive, I saw him there up on the roof with Colm and her, whilst they were screaming and laughing at us.” Micah grabbed a cigarette and lit it. “But he was shouting at you boss, he was angry now why would he be angry at you? We thought he was dead and all.” Micah continued as he took a drag of his cigarette. “Why is he mad at us, what did we do?”

Now Arthur started to shift a bit where he sat, he too was confused as to why Sean was angry at them, but he had a hunch to why. “I think that he thinks that we abandoned him, but we didn’t. I searched everywhere for him in Rhodes. I didn’t find his body, guess I know why now. But how did the O’Driscoll’s get their hands on him then?” Arthur sighed, as he rubbed his jaw and looked at Dutch and John. “The Gray’s were after us as we burnt down their fields, then here was a gunshot and the horse Sean was riding on didn’t have him on. I tried to look for him but there were so many guards after me. I was forced to leave, but I did look for him for a few days with Charles.” Arthur emphasized, as he looked to Charles a stern and grim look on his face.

“It’s true, Arthur and I searched everywhere, we found some dragmarks deeper in the woods near the fields, but no blood or much more.” Charles finished quietly, as he looked back at Arthur.

Mac and Davey sat shoulder to shoulder against the wall, as the other spoke. Mac would be just fine, it was a clean shot, went straight through the arm and would heal just fine. But Mac was tired and a little weak from the bloodloss, so he leaned against his brother’s shoulder, resting his eyes and saving his strength. 

“So what now Dutch? We have to move soon, Mac is getting weaker by the minute here and we can’t stay here forever, we need to get out of here, it’s dark now so it should be easier for us to slink out of here now.” Davey worried, as he looked towards his brother, he would be fine, but he was far too pale for his brother’s liking.

Dutch turned towards Davey and looked over Mac quickly. The boy was right, they needed to get out of there now, before the Pinkertons and the bounty hunters or law would find them. “I’m thinking about a plan, son. It will be hard to get out of here, I was thinking about a boat, but now that plan has gone up in flames, thanks to the O’Driscoll’s.” Dutch sighed loudly, as he looked out again towards the flames at the end of the city. “You know this thing, with the trains and boats in flames, isn’t something like Colm or Murdoch would come up with.”

“What do you mean Dutch?” John asked him, looking away from the window as he spoke.

“I’m positive that Joey did this to me. To cut us off here, so the law would find us or just to make us suffer, I gotta give her credit, a smart and effective plan. But I think there is a way for us to sneak out, if we are very careful and quick, it will be a bit of a detour but we have no choice and we need to get our horses back.”

The men sat quietly and muttered as Dutch spoke.. She had yet again played them all like a fiddle and cut their strings. But the strings in this case was an escape route, crucial in a time like this. 

Dutch rallied the men as they sneaked out of the building and walked all the alleys and dark streets back towards their horses. Luckily they were still there where they left them, currently there was no law in sight. So they mounted up as quietly and quickly as they could, before guiding their horses into the alleys where there was grass they covered the sounds of the horses hooves. They even rode through the park near where the mayor lived, by some miracle no one had seen them. Most were too busy with the huge fire by the docks, in a way the O’Driscoll’s had also helped by distracting most of the city with the huge fire. As the gang rode the path from the city that led towards the swamp, they picked up the pace and made a mad dash back to Shady Belle, where the others were supposed to meet them. As they rode in, they saw that most of the gang was accounted for and all seemed to be well.

Until Susan began shouting towards them. “Dutch! We need to get out of here and we need to do it right now. I have already prepared all the wagons and we are ready to move out now. But have you boys seen Lenny or Hosea? They still haven’t arrived here yet.” Susan explained, a look of worry on her face.

Dutch had just dismounted his horse and heard Susan’s worries. He thought to himself, where was Hosea and Lenny? If the Pinkertons had them they surely would have used them as hostages when they robbed the bank, but they didn’t, it was just that Agent Milton that was trying to negotiate with you. But there were alot of…

Then the realisation hit him like a bullet to his heart..

O'Driscoll..

It had to be them…

“Goddamnit! Those damn O’Driscoll’s must have them, they must’ve taken them!” Dutch shouted loudly, in the middle of the camp.

“You sure Dutch? Could have been the Pinkertons or all them bounty hunters or the law?” Arthur questioned Dutch, as he stood besides him. “If they did, why Hosea and Lenny? What use could they have on an old man and a kid?”

“We are being played, don’t you see the pattern Arthur? Fire in Rhodes, we lose Sean, but he's alive with the O’Driscoll’s, now more fire in Saint Denis, we lose Hosea and Lenny. She is picking us off son, one by one. Doing a damn good job too, now we are 5 down in our gang. No wait 6 down, if we count Abigail.” Dutch said, as he gestured with his hands and body, explaining how he thought.

Arthur’s pupils shrunk in horror and worry, there was indeed a pattern. But what would Murdoch and Colm do with Hosea and Lenny? Heck, what use did they have with Sean? The boy was a fool, but he was still alive and well with them. “Goddammit, she has been playing us since Rhodes! Wait, check the bags, there was a note in the safe.” 

Dutch hurried over to the bags, grabbing a few gold bars out, before he fished the note out, handing it over to Arthur. Arthur quickly read through it again. “Yeah says it right here Dutch, they don’t know who Joey is, or even if it is a man or woman, but they want him or her alive and blah blah, Pinkertons coming back and all, trouble in other words Dutch.” Arthur finished, as he looked up from the note.  
“Wait a minute here..This doesn’t feel right.” Dutch frowned, as he looked over the gold bar he just fished out of the bank. Looking over it carefully and slowly.”Hang on here this feels like a brick, wait it has something written on it.”

“What? Well what does it say?” Arthur asked.

“It says: ha ha ha, then the other one has a dick drawn on it, the last one says enjoy the gold Dutch.” 

Arthur and Dutch looked at eachother, angry faces on them both. “We have been played like fools! Now we know why they were there, to watch us take it and have a good laugh at the old fool Dutch! Well two can play that game. Colm and Murdoch will pay for this dearly. We need to get her away from them, she’s the key to all of their recent plans and our recent bad luck. She still has to explain how the hell she pulled this off. There was nothing in the papers about this.” Dutch fumed, as he threw the fake gold bar towards the ground.

“Boss!”

“The money, it's fake, just a bunch of insults written of them, the rest of them are just dyed green.” Davey shouted towards Dutch.

Dutch had an angry look on his face, a deep frown appearing on his face. Stepping towards a box crate near a wagon, he stepped on it as he prepared a short speech towards the gang. “Everyone gather around! It seems that we have been played like a bunch of damn fools right now. The gold bars are bricks, covered in insults, the money is fake, just dyed green pepper, that are also covered in curses.” Dutch spoke, as he made a pause and looked over the gang.

“Goddamn O’Driscoll’s, what’s our next move Dutch?”

“All that work for nothing.”

“They will pay for it all of course. But I need you to stay strong now, have faith, and stay with me. We need to rob them of the source of their plans, which just happens to be Joey, yes I know what you said about her and me and me needing to get over her. But you need to think about the bigger picture here. If she’s gone, then they won’t be able to make any big takes, but we will. I don’t care if I have to force her to work with me, we will get our money back. We will survive, we will find paradise, we will survive!” Dutch finished his speech, as he looked over his gang, as they were cheering at him, vowing revenge for all the humiliation that the O'Driscoll's had caused them, that she had caused them. Colm and Murdoch were too stupid to think this up. Then you could get Hosea, Lenny and Sean back, her too. Then all would be well again. But right now you had to leave Shady Belle and find a new camp.  
Revenge.. 

Dutch would have it..

They would pay dearly for this…

Currently at Hanging dog ranch

You and Colm had just arrived at the new camp, tired and a bit sore after that long ride. But there was already a party being held, to celebrate all the pain you had caused Dutch and the others, these past weeks and months. The spirits were high and everyone was happy and drinking and some were even dancing. There was some music being played too, somewhere at the ranch, but you couldn't see from where it was, due to how many there were there. It seemed that all of the gang were at the ranch right now, there had to be somewhere between 60 or more people wandering about the ranch. Colm helped you down from his horse and led you towards the house, where you had a feeling that you would be staying for a while. 

As you entered the house, you saw that there were a lot of things and bags around the ground floor. There was also the money from the bank in one corner of the room. But you didn’t have time to look, as Colm pulled you with him, up the stairs towards your room, once inside he closed the door and started to kiss you under your jaw and ear. No matter the time of day he sure was eager to tease and flirt with you. The man was eager, you would give him that. 

There were no words spoken to each other, he knew what he wanted, as did you so you let him have it. 

30 minutes later..

After getting a quick but brutal love session from Colm, you were so tired that you couldn't almost stand up straight. But Colm just kept on kissing and nipping at your neck, just about keeping you awake. 

“Come one darling, let’s get out and enjoy our party. You are the reason for us having it after all.” Colm said calmly, as he nipped at your earlobe.

“I’m dead tired Colm, all I want to do is sleep.”

“Come on...just for a little while.” Colm pressed on, as he put his forehead against yours, nuding you awake.

Sighing a bit loudly, you couldn't help it when he was this cute. Even if your body was screaming rest or else to you. “Fine, but I get a blanket and if I fall asleep, you don’t wake me up or there will be no kisses and massages for a week.” You said tiredly, but still with a slight stern voice, too tired to make an effort right now. 

“Deal..”

The two of you walked downstairs, towards the big party outside, a blanket on your shoulders, as it was quite cold outside by now, all you wanted to do right now was to sleep. But when he was this gentle and cute it was hard to not listen to him. He only was this gentle and cute in private, but he flirted and kissed you without any ounce of shame in his body in front of the other gang members, even his brother at times. Which in turn gave you a few new nicknames, raspberry and strawberry, which only made you turn all the more pink, once he said the nicknames to you, flustering you beyond belief.

As you stepped outside Colm spotted a nice place close to the fire, as he approached the seat he found, once he sat dawn, he gestured to you to sit on his lap bridal style, you were so tired and were on his lap in seconds, wrapping yourself and him with your big blanket. After a few wriggles here and there, you were all snuggled up and ready for a nap, leaning your head to just under his jaw, by the base of his neck. Colm on the other hand, had managed to grab some drink and was drinking it, as you heard it pass through his throat whilst your head was right next to his neck, a bit freaky but you were too tired to care. 

Colm was chatting away with a few gang members that were around the fire with him. He sounded happy, so you guessed that you were happy to, as you closed your eyes and tried to get some much needed sleep. Hearing familiar voices and laughter turn into mumbles, eventually fading into whispers as sleep finally took you.

In the barn on the ranch there was another thing stirring, one between Hosea and Murdoch. 

Murdoch pov:

“Been sometime since we saw each other Hosea.” Murdoch said with a sneer, as he glanced over a bruised Hosea, Lenny was there with him, but he was still unconscious from the beatings he had received from the O’Driscoll’s earlier today. They were both chained to one pillar each in the barn in the back. Where it was the coldest and darkest for them both, just to make their stay all the more miserable.

“That it has, old friend. How is Joey, by the way? Heard that she married your brother and all. It would send you my congratulations, but I guess my hands are a bit tied right now.” Hosea said with a faint groan, he was freezing in this blasted barn, cold, moist and unforgivingly dark. 

Murdoch started pacing around the pillar that Hosea was tied to, giving him a few glances before he answered him.”She’s fine, so is my fool of a little brother. But why are you so concerned about her? Do you still need her to bring in the bacon at your camp in Shady Belle?” Murdoch moked Hosea, this was all a game to him, he loved to taunt and pull at people's weaknesses and strings.

“No, not really. I know that you wouldn't kill off your prize pony. But I have a feeling that me and Lenny are here because of her, ain’t that so Murdoch?” Hosea finished, as he coughed due to how cold he was getting in the barn, it was getting him right to the bones, burrowing in deep. It felt as if his bones were made of ice. 

Murdoch stopped his pacing, whilst looking at Hosea with a smirk, as he approached him, jerking his head up in an uncomfortable angle, forcing Hosea to look him in the eye. “She said that you were clever and that boy there too.” Murdoch gestured to Lenny, that was still out. “No, the reason you’re here is because we know that you and that boy possess a brain, unlike Dutch. So you are here to make sure that Dutch will have no one to help him, to make him weak and make sure that he suffers. We did throw all that law on you in Saint Denis, you walked into a trap and you didn’t even see it, you fools.” Murdoch said, whilst he punched Hosea hard in the stomach, punching the air right out of him, before he jerked his head to the side in another, but just as uncomfortable angle. 

Hosea coughed, whilst he panted a few breaths, trying to desperately get some air into his lungs. After a few moments of panting he managed to have enough air to ite back at Murdoch. “What do you mean? How could you know that we were going to hit the bank today?” 

Murdoch sighed, as he let go of Hosea’s head, whilst he took a seat on a chair that was placed near Hosea. “You really don’t know do you? We were told that you and the boy there, were smart and could be of use to us, perhaps she held you two fools too highly.” Murdoch scoffed, as he lit up a cigarette and blew the smoke into Hosea’s head, making him cough. 

“What did she do to us in Saint Denis?” Hosea said in and unsteady tone, fear setting into his body. But he refused to show it to the monster of a man that Murdoch was.

Leaning forward in the chair, as he blew more smoke into Hosea’s face, looking at him with an amused smirk. “Yes, what did she do indeed? You tell me, you're the smart one, that’s what I heard at least. Tell you what, I’ll let you and that boy there have a day to figure it out, perhaps then I’ll tell you.” Murdoch answered, as he stood up and put out his cigarette under his boot, before he stepped out of the barn and joined in on the party that the gang was having. Looking around for his little brother, he found him near one of the bigger fires near to the old empty cow pen. Joining in near the fire, he took a beer bottle and sat down in a chair next to his brother. It seemed that Joey was fast asleep in Colm’s lap. She sure had been tired the past couple of days, so you let her be.

“So, how is good old Hosea doing brother?” Colm asked, as he shuffled around a bit in his seat, careful as not to wake up Joey, that was still out cold.

“Oh, he’s cold and miserable, boy is still out cold, still has no idea what we did to them in Saint Denis. To think, we were told that he had a brain, along with the boy. So I let him have a day to figure it out, before we beat the crap out of them both.” Murdoch laughed, as a few gang members joined in.

“Sure why not, we can afford to wait a little. Dutch and the other idiots in his gang won’t find us anytime soon. Even if they did, what then? We outnumber them by a lot, and we have my smart wife here to fill us in with things we miss.” Colm gestured to a sleeping Joey, her head right onto your brother’s neck.

“We sure do, go on take her inside, it’s getting cold.” Murdoch said, as he pushed his brother lightly on the shoulder. Colm could be as dumb as a rock at times. But he did care for his wife. The light of his miserable life, he sure was lucky to have her, that damn fool. 

“Alright, alright, just gonna finish my beer first.” Colm answered, as he chugged down the last drops that were left, before he stood up and carried off a sleeping Joey, bridal style into the house. Which left you back at the fire with the other gang members to talk to, which suited you just fine..

Colm’s pov:

After Colm had carried his sleeping wife into the house and placed her onto the bed. He was met by Bella, as he was fetching a few things in one of the many bags upstairs.

“Is she still out?” Bella asked Colm with a quiet voice, as if she was afraid to wake her and face her wrath. Bella had once had woken up Joey, she was still afraid to do that again, due to the vicious death glare and the slap she received from the last time. 

“Yeah, don’t worry, she slept through all that noise outside, you won't wake her.” Colm said, as he rummaged through the bags for what he was searching for.

“I am still afraid of getting slapped again, she gave me a huge bruise on my ribs the last time. So excuse me for being a little worried.” Bella laughed a little, as she looked down at Colm.”What are you looking for?”

“Where did you put my shorter coat, the black one with the green on the inside?”

“Oh, it’s in the wardrobe in your room, now that I’m fat and all, I have some time to organize and all.” Bella gestured and laughed as she rubbed her bump, it had gotten a little bigger since the last week.

“You ain’t that big yet, but as long as you fix a few things here and there, you won't hear me complaining.” 

Bella rolled her eyes, as she looked at Colm with a small grin.”You will stop complaining about things for 5 minutes? Whatever have we done to deserve such a gift.” Bella teased, as he dramatically made a bow at him and laughed. 

“Oh shut up will you.”

“Nope, I will not. I have permission to torment you, Joey and your brother said so.” Bella said with a sing-song voice to Colm.

“Great, now there’s 3 againt me.” Colm sighed, as he looked over Bella’s small bump. “I got a feeling that you have a nephew in there for me.”

Bella’s eyes lit up as Colm spoke to her about the baby. “Really now? Then he will have lessons with Joey and be taught all her ways and pranks, only to be twice as annoying in the future.” 

Colm laughed.”Good luck with that. Joey is the most annoying little shit me and my brother have ever met. Good luck beating her and her own game.”

Bella laughed, as she looked towards the room that Joey was sleeping in. “Well, yes she is. I guess I’m already beaten. Hope you two have kids in the future too Colm, bet she’d be an amazing mom and you an great angry dad, that is secretly a softie on the inside, because big tough outlaws are emotionally constipated, right?” 

“Shut up will you?” Colm said, as he felt a bit embarrassed and felt himself turning a bit pink.

“Will do, ya big softie..” Bella teased, as she went back into her room. Leaving you alone outside your room for a brief moment.

You, kids? That was something Colm really never had put any real thought on. Sure, it would be nice to have an heir and some legacy behind you. But you didn’t really know what to do when it came to babies and children. Perhaps Joey knew? You were both still young and all, so there was still time to start a family..Walking into your bedroom where your sleeping wife laid on the bed, Colm started to wonder how she would look with a kid of your own next to her and you.

Laying down on the bed, wrapping your arms around her, whilst grabbing some of the blankets and pulling them over your body. Colm cuddled up to Joey, whilst moving a few bits of hair away from her face. She was so still and peaceful whilst she slept, beautiful and she was all yours. It was his ring on her finger after all. Burrowing his face into her neck, he kissed her softly on her neck, before he too closed his eyes and fell asleep.

He sure was lucky…

She was still yours…

Dutch had lost..

“Mine”...was the last thought he had, before he fell asleep.


	25. The great battle..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm silly and love snow...
> 
> Le spell, huh? Don't worry about Hosea and Lenny all will be revealed in time =)

A stretch and a yawn and you woke up at hanging dog ranch. Colm had his face in your neck as usual, drooling at your neck yet again, but hey, that means that he is still relaxed and all. Cracking your neck, you made a huge crack that made Colm groan. He hated when you cracked your limbs when he was around, he found it scary that a person could make all those cracks and noises and still not break anything. But man, oh man, you lived for the noises and the cracks and pops, it sure was nice to get a loud crack out from the back, neck or a joint. You bet you could make a living out of it, just to hear the noises, it was like sweet music. You felt much better today, the body felt better, still tired and needing rest, but it felt like you could move without falling over now. Whilst you were riding back to the new camp here you missed cars, like a lot, ugh the advantages of cars, you sighed to yourself. 

“Stop making all that noise! It’s freaking me out, you will break something one day.” Colm grumbled, as you finished your cracks and popped your leg. 

Looking back at him, you could hardly contain your laughter. It was totally harmless, if you knew what you were doing, if you tried something advanced then you’d get a sore muscle. “Oh yeah? Well just because of that, I’m gonna crack your back…” You teased, as you dove right onto Colm’s back, pushing him down onto the bed and straddling him. Oh, he was going to hear cracks and pops alright, his own noises from his own body.”

“No, no, no, leave my back out of this.” Colm weakly protested, as you moved yourself into a better sitting position on his flat butt, running your hands up and down his spine, to find some good spots that needed a good cracking. Once you found a good spot, you decided to give him a fair warning first.

“Ohh, look I found a good place to crack, right here..” You barely finished, as you firmly placed your fingers and the palm of your hands on both sides of his spine, until you heard that sound from the heavens…

CRACK!!

“And there it is..” You finished, as it seemed that you had cracked that voice out of Colm. “Are you still alive there?”

Colm moved a few centimeters, before he spoke up.”That was..freaky and did I make those noises or was that you?” Colm said, as he turned his head to the side, trying to look at you, as you still sat on him.

“Oh, now that was all you and you needed that. Your back feels much nicer now, not a stiff muscle here, not on my watch.” You proclaimed proudly, as you crossed your arms and looked a bit smug.

“Air..”

“Oh, right..” You moved away from Colm’s back, allowing him to get up and stretch his back. He looked much looser and smoother in his movements now, even though he probably wouldn't admit it anytime soon. But your work of the day was currently done.

“Hmm, feels strange..How do you know these things?” Colm asked with a hint of suspicion in his voice, silly man.

“Books on muscles and anatomy of our bodies and sutch, that and pure logic and being self-taught, but I haven’t heard any complaints in all the years I’ve done it..”

“How many years?”

“At least 15 or more?” You scratched your neck, as you tried to think back at how long you’ve done it. Sure was long now that you thought about it.

“15 years?!”

“Mhm, now you get an experienced bonecracker to be at your service, next time we can take your neck, or your arm?”

“No, no, you stick to the back, it’s freaking me out enough as it is.” Colm said, as he stood up quickly. Was he scared? Oh, now this was useful information for pranks and some light toreture in the future.

“Well, now. Why do I suspect that you are a bit scared of me cracking your bones and joints back in place?” You said in a teasing sing-song-voice, as you also rose from the bed and quickly changed into a warmer coat. Colm’s coat in other words, the one with the fluffy fur on the top.

“Stealing my clothes are we?” Colm teased, as he grabbed another thick fur coat, a black one with green on the inside.

“Yupp, gotta get me a proper fur coat for myself one day. But until then I will steal yours. You just have to deal with it.” You finished, as you put the coat on and kissed Colm on his forehead, he deserved to be teased.

Colm just grumbled after you kissed him. The two of you then ate breakfast and headed outside the house after you were done eating. The ranch was covered in green, O’Driscoll’s everywhere you looked, some drunk, others capable of standing, lastly others that were still out cold from the party of yesterday. 

“You Irish sure know how to have a grand time..” You teased Colm, as you walked forward a few meters from the house.

“We sure do, sweetheart. No one can have a better party then the Irish.” 

As you were standing and talking, a slightly hungover Murdoch approached the two of you. “There you are, you have to introduce yourself to your friends in the barn Joey. I bet that they’re eager to meet you by now, nothing like a night in a cold barn to clear the head.” Murdoch said with a grin, towards the both of you.

Looking back at Colm. “You’re coming with me right?” 

“Sure, I wanna meet your friends too.” 

So there it was, you, Colm, and Murdoch entering the barn. A cold breeze hitting your face, you pitied poor Hosea for having to stand out here in the cold for the whole night, but you still didn’t know who the other person was that they caught. There were two of them, that you heard from the others at least. Walking towards the end of the barn you saw him and felt so ashamed of yourself.

There was a cold and pale Hosea and…

Lenny...they got him too

They looked bruised and beaten, but they were alive. It seemed that the other gang members had their fun with them. Poor boys, but maybe you could try and change that now, to try and help them step by step. There had to be a plan and caution to this, if you just dropped to your knees and weiled on what they had done to them, it would surely cause some huge suspicions and regs flaggs, you were skeptical of causing that. You were safe in the gang now, but it was better to be safe than sorry. 

A tired and cold Hosea, slowly raised his head and stared back at you, he seemed disappointed, but that didn’t matter to you right now, he was alive after all. “Hello again Joey, been awhile since we last saw eye to eye..” 

Swallowing your shame and fear, you put on an unfaced and neutral face, to appear as if you were unfaced by his woes and words. “Hello old friend, glad to see you alive and well, kind of well..”

Hosea let out a dry laugh, before he looked back at Murdoch with a slight frown. “Your brother in-law here is a terrible host, no drinks were served and no company was offered either. That was quite the party you held out there last night, any special reasons why?”

Before you could answer him, Colm and Murdoch decided to cut in on the chat you had with Hosea.

“Stop it with the games old man. You and that boy there were given a chance to figure that out last night. So what do you think Hosea?” Murdoch asked, as he placed a firm hit onto Hosea’s shoulder, causing him to groan in pain.

Colm was more interested in pestering Lenny though, as he walked up to him with a sneer on his face. “Now who are you then, boy?”

Lenny whoever, didn’t flinch or seemed intimidated by Colm. He just gave Colm a hard glare back, not saying a word. But the thing is, when Colm asks you a question, you better answer him, or else there would be pain, lots of pain. So that Lenny ignored his question only angered him. So Colm punched Lenny hard in the gut with the butt of his gun, causing Lenny to double over in pain. 

“Now shall we try that again boy?”

“T-the names Lenny..” 

“You look young boy, how old are you?” Colm asked, as he paced around Lenny slowly, like a predator waiting to pounce on its prey. This was hard for you to watch, but there was little you could do to stop them, so you were biding your time for the moment, waiting and hoping that you could smoothe this out later, if you had the chance. 

“19..” Lenny groaned, still in pain after that hard punch to his gut.

“Just a kid, since when did Dutch take in kids..” Colm scoffed, as he looked towards his brother, seemingly unimpressed.

Murdoch just looked at Colm before he answered him. “Well, he did take in John Marston when he was a kid, then there's Arthur Morgan, he was a kid too, when he took him in.”

“Right, almost forgot about that, but Dutch only takes in people he can use, so what so special about you then, boy?” Colm asked Lenny, with a hard and cold look, empty of any sympathy. You wanted to do something, but what could you do? You thought to yourself, right now you decided to observe for a little while more. 

Lenny looked at Hosea, as if he needed reassurance from him on what to say. This was getting a bit to hard for you too watch by now, soon you had to step in and help them both, before they decided to hurt them or torture them. Who knew what Colm and Murdoch had in mind? 

Hosea spoke up and looked at Colm and you oddly enough.”He’s a sharp one Lenny here, a few more years and he’ll be outthinking us all, ain’t that so Joey?” Hosea finished, as they all looked at you for an answer. Oh? Really now Hosea? Turn this back to you? How very..unkind of him. But you decided to play his game, but with a darker theme in mind, it was time for you to get angry. All this talk and word games, stalling, taunting and all other nonsense, was really annoying to you by now. Life would be so much easier if people only got to the damn point, instead of prancing around with fancy words and games.

No..you are angry now, the thing is, when you get angry the pressure builds up inside you, slowly and surely, just building and almost bubbling, until at last, the pressure is too high and you need to release the pressure. Your skin was crawling, the tiger inside you had awakened after a long time of rest, the anger rising by the second, as your mind was getting darker and more sinister thoughts popped into your head, it was almost as if your eyes had darkened once you decided to release your anger back at Hosea and Lenny. This is what you get? All this work to save their lives and he dares to mock you? Or was he playing you? It was hard for you to decide, but it does not matter, you were not giving him an inch.

It was time to release some pressure…

“No, I highly doubt that…'' You answered Hosea, in a twisted tone, angry and ready to strike back at him, all you wanted was to get rid of this anger.

Hosea looked at you with sheer confusion, back in Tall Trees you had always been so kind towards Lenny, praising him and telling him that he could achieve anything he had his heart set on, but now you were not so kind anymore. “That’s not what you said before..” Hosea answered back in a quiet tone, as he lowered his head.

Emotions..

Words..

You were done with this now, fed up and angry..

“Yes, but you see that a person can change its mind and thoughts. I only said that so you fools would let your damn guard down so that I could bide my time and be rid of you. You wasted enough of my time in that damn camp, 2 whole weeks! Surrounded by idiots wherever I looked, except maybe you Hosea, but everywhere else, utter devoid of ideas and a functioning brain! I’m surprised that some of you could even breathe and stand at the same time. Then we have you led by the king of fools and you gullible fools believe him. He would sacrifice you all to save his own hide. You will be nothing unless you get rid of him, so no, Lenny you will be nothing if you're led by a fool, you should know better, boy.” You finished angrily, fuming and fed up. You walked out the barn, you were done with humans for now. Needing to vent your anger, luckily the current camp was close to that abandoned mining place, that means that you could have a grand snowfight and be rid of all that remaining anger that was left in your body. 

So it was decided, a grand snowfight and you would feel much better, you decided to yourself. Looking around you saw Sean, Kieran and your buddy Ludwig, perfect, with their help you could have a blast, if they brought a few friends with them. 

“Sean, Kieran, Ludwig! Get over here!” You ordered them, still in an angry tone as you were still fuming. The three of them jumped towards you, Sean looked scared, he had never seen you this pissed of..ever.

“You okay there Joey?” Kieran asked carefully, propobally worried that you would vent at him or something else.

You gave Kieran a harder glare than you had intended, but you caught yourself doing so at once, so you just sighed and lowered your head, before you answered him in a much kinder tone. “Just having problems with all emotions and stuff you normal people have, I don’t really have that, so I get a tad angry now and then, but it ain’t your fault, it’s Hosea’s fault this time. Pacing a bit where you stood, you wandered over to Bacchus with the three of them in tow. “So I was thinking of a fun thing to do, to get all these nasty angry emotions out of my head, but you have to come with me and bring a few of the younger boys with us, we ain’t going very far.”

“Okay”

“Ain’t no problem, hate seeing you this pissed of sis”

Sean’s words amused you, deciding to scare him a bit for good measure.”If I was really angry there would be quite a few dead bodies arounds here, popobally some fire too, but I guess I’m good and keeping my temper in check wouldn't you say that brother?” 

Sean seemed to get uncomfortable after hearing your answer, but he still mounted up on his Ennis, as the others followed suit and mounted their horses too. A whole army of the younger gang members rode towards you, there had to be 20 of them. But the more the merrier.

You were tired of talking and rode off towards the abandoned mining town, with the others following you. It took only about 10 minutes to ride over there. As you reached the town, you stopped Bacchus and turned towards the gang that followed you up there. “So here’s what we're going to do boys. Since we are young, and still have a sense of humor unlike the old farts back at camp, we are going to have a huge snowfight! But we need to split up in teams for that. If I’m not wrong, I think Colm and Murdoch will be here soon, since I left them kinda, just like that in the barn. So we need to make lots of ammo, but for god's sake take your real guns off, so there's no accidental shooting, ok?”

“Alright a fight! I’m in!”

“Hell yeah, Brian you're on my team!”

“Kieran join us, you have the best aim!”

Dismounting your horse and directing where the boys were they should leave their guns, you split the gang up in two teams. On your team, there was Sean and Ludwig and a whole bunch of young boys whose names you couldn't quite remember, but it didn’t matter right now. Dashing towards the side that faced the mountain, you and your team were busy creating snowballs to throw at the others, luckily it was perfect snow for this, no powder snow. Creating tons and tons of snowballs, you heard a few horses running towards the mining town, looking up from where your team was hiding, it looked like it was Colm with his brother, and Seamus with William and maybe Monty? 

Oh, it was a sign, you would totally maul them in your snowfight..

“Hey, Sean, Ludwig, it seems that we have some willing victims for our fight ahead.” You whispered to them.

“Are you insane?” Sean protested.

“Yes?” You answered Sean, with a smug smile on your face.

Sean just sighed.”If I throw snow at him he’ll shoot me for sure. But if you do it..” Sean said, as a smile appeared on his lips and face..

“Consider it done brother..” You smiled back at Sean. “Ludwig you aim for Seamus, give him absolute hell, on 3 we attack them, as they are totally unprepared for this. Kieran and the other will surely join in once we attack, we are armed to the teeth, now are you ready boys?”

“Ready”

“Shit, yes I’m so ready for this.”

“Ready when you are lass.”

“3..”

“2..”

“1..”

“Aim, for their head boys!!” You shouted loudly towards where Kieran and the other sat. 

Colm and the others were taken completely by surprise. You aimed for his stupid hat, manageing to hit him in the back of the neck as he shouted that it was cold, but there was no mercy in a snowfight. Ludwig had managed to hit Seamus right in the face, much to your amusement. Colm and the others were screaming amongst themselves by now, but you managed to hear a little bit of what they said, whilst you sneaked around a few buildings, to get a better shot.

“Shit, looks like we have a fight ahead boys, of your horses!” Colm screamed, as he jumped off Brutus and hid behind a tree, as he too started to make a few snowballs to throw back at you all.

“Dammit, she led us right into a trap!” Murdoch screamed, as he jumped off his horse, leaving you a short window to shoot at him. Which you took of course, aiming for his neck, you threw for all you got and managed to hit him in the neck.

“Fuck that’s cold! Joey ya damn little shit! You’ll pay for this!” Murdoch shouted back to you, not that you were scared and worried about that though.

“Eat snow Murk!!” You shouted back at him, as you sneaked around another building and threw more snow at him, hitting his face several times in the process.

“Shit, that’s cold!!”

Laughing loudly, you ran towards your next target, Seamus. Who by now was almost covered in snow, as Sean and Ludwig were throwing a lot of snowballs on him. Grabbing a huge pile of snow on the ground, you managed to create the biggest snowball you had ever made, the anti-Seamus ball, now you were ready to give that shit a piece of your mind. Running towards him, armed and deadly. “Hey Seamus!”

Seamus managed to turn around, but saw the huge snowball you had in your arms, so big that it looked like a watermelon. “No, don’t you dare!” Seamus shouted, as he tried to run away from you, all the while as he was under heavy fire by the others.

“Yeet!” was all you said, before you hit that monster at Seamus head, throwing him to the ground and possibly putting him out of commission. Pleased with your fine work, you looked around for a next target, but before you had even looked around a few seconds, you were suddenly slammed in your back and thrown onto the ground, but it wasn't too hard.

“Got you know!” Colm shouted, as he tackled you into the ground. Oh that sneaky bugger, he must’ve followed you and waited until you were distracted, before he tackled you, well played sir, well played indeed. Tumbling around the snow as Colm straddled you, pinning you down with relative ease. He looked like a snowman, hair covered in snow, snow inside his coat, heck even the hat was covered in snow. But the thing is, that you may be pinned down by him. That doesn’t mean that you are totally defenceless and willing to surrender, nope you got this covered.

Grabbing some snow around you, before you shoved it under Colm’s shirt. Making him squeal like a little girl in the process, as he screamed he loosened his grip on you, enabling you to shove more snow at him, the neck and his back were prime targets. Grabbing more snow, as you tackled him, you semi-crawled towards him, a smile forming on your face, as your hands were filled with snow. “Any last words?” You said to Colm, in an attempt to sound like a storybook villain. 

“You know I do..” Colm said in a sly tone, as he sat up.

“What's that then?”

“Brother..” Colm finished, as his smile widened. Oh crap..you forgot about that. Just as Colm finished, another shove came from behind your back, as you once again fell into the snowy ground. 

“Got you know, you little shit! I said that you were gonna pay for that didn’t I!” Murdoch shouted, as he grabbed your waist and hoisted you up onto his shoulder and carried you away towards the horses. It seemed like the game was up, but who won?

“I take it that my team won then?” You asked Murdoch from his shoulder.

“For now, wasn't really a fair fight, we thought you ran off because you were pissed and all, so we decided to follow you. And what do we find? You and all the young boys waiting for us in a damn snowfight! You got poor Seamus real good, I take it as your idea?” 

“No...it was..Sean’s idea, kinda, well he suggested it…” You said sheepishly, a bit embarrassed and flustered.

“Of course it was his idea, damn ginger. Now, you are going to be nice on the short ride back, ain’t ya?” Murdoch asked, as he put you on his horse and tied Bacchus reins to Zeus, before he mounted up. 

“Hmm, is that a suggestion or a question?” You teased back.

“Very funny Joey, let’s say it more of an order, just to make it easy for you.” Murdoch mumbled, as he steered the gang back towards camp. Grabbing onto his waist, you saw that all of the younger boys in the gang were utterly covered in snow and were happy and cheering towards each other, the older gang members were wet and miserable, grumbling about it being too damn cold for this and that. You took note that Seamus was riding to the left of Murdoch and looked absolutely miserable, then you noticed that you had some snow in the pockets of your coat, enough to make one snowball and throw in his face..

Oh..now this you couldn't resist..

As quickly as you could, you grabbed all the snow off your coat and as quick as a flash, formed a ball and threw it straight at Seamus face.

“Haha, take that Seamus!” You laughed, after you threw the snowball at him. Earning a sigh from Murdoch and a grumble from Seamus.

“Why me?” Seamus protested as he looked at you, he couldn't exactly punch you in the face or really do anything mean, as you were one of his bosses wife and all. Sure must’ve been annoying to be in his shoes by now.

“Because you're ugly, reminding me of a stick, an ugly stick!” You insulted him, as you hugged Murdoch’s waist, with your head held high. 

“Great now I’m a stick…”

“Joey..” 

“Nope can’t hear you.”

Murdoch just sighed and the gang continued the remaining ride in silence back towards the ranch. As you reached the barn, you were just about to jump off Murdoch horse, when Colm suddenly grabbed you off the horse and threw you up on his shoulder and carried you towards the house. Once you entered, it seemed that Bella saw you and Colm, but it was hard to see, she was behind your butt. 

“So what happened?” Bella asked whilst laughing. 

“I beat them all Bella, you should have seen them! Got Seamus good too, all in all a good day's work.” You said proudly, from Colm’s shoulder, wriggling a bit as you wanted to get down, you felt a bit bloated whilst you laid on his shoulder like that. 

“Oh no you ain’t going anywhere sweetheart!” Colm said firmly, as he grabbed onto your waist harder, preventing you from any escape. “This lady here led us into a damn ambush, a huge snowfight to be more precise, got us all good, Seamus got the worst, as did I and my brother, all thanks to this little shit here.” Colm scoffed, before he playfully pinched your butt.

“Hey! I won fare and square, kinda, well maybe I cheated a little bit..”

“A little bit?”

“Well maybe a bit more than a little then..” You said sheepishly, as you tried to wriggle off once again, but it was of no use, Colm got a good hold on you.

Bella just laughed and walked back towards her room. 

“See, even she knows that I won.”

“You are in real trouble sweetheart..” Colm said in a drawled out tone, as he carried you up the stairs, towards your room. 

“Well sore loser then, can’t handle that your wife kicked you kinda fair and square?”

“Oh, I’ll show you fair alright.” Colm said, as he locked the door once he carried you inside the room. Just as he locked it and threw you onto the bed.

It would seem that you were in for another lesson from your husband, the rest of the day spent in the bed.

But that didn’t bother you..

You won..


	26. How the hell do you play poker anyway?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See, Hosea and Lenny are fine..
> 
> Also longer and a bit more exciteing chapter, can't spell to save my life =(

It had been a few days since the snowfight at the abandoned mining town, Colm had snuggled you the rest of the day, smothering you till the point of suffocation. But he did give you a few compliments for torturing his brother, turns out that Murdoch ain’t too fond of snow, what a shame, so you had to do this some more in the future. It took a few days before your anger had fully left your body, still a bit ashamed for the things you said to Hosea and Lenny. But you did make it up to them, taking them out of the barn and locking them up in a room in the house, sure they were prisoners and all, but it was better than nothing, Hosea locked much better by now, not as pale and cold anymore. Lenny was fine, he had healed up nicely. But that little voice in your head was nagging at you, to go down and personally apologize to them, it wasn't really their fault for that they didn’t know that you had saved their lives in Saint Denis, you had to suck it up and do the right thing, even though you were a bit scared to do so, it had to be done eventually. 

It was very early in the morning, Colm was out cold, but you were awake, the past few days you had been feeling bloated and ill in the mornings and parts of the day. Have you eaten something you shouldn't have? No, you haven't really done that. Maybe it was just some stomach bug you had picked up? It wasn't that uncommon to do that, it happens all the time back home. So you rose from them bed quietly, as you walked down the stairs to the room where Lenny and Hosea were held, you knew were they key was, there was currently no guards, as it would be impossible and downright suicidal for them to escape the ranch, there were simple to many O’Driscoll’s around. 

Taking the key in hand, you grabbed a few treats for them along with some candy and chocolate, it wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. Hosea liked books, didn’t he? You remembered that little sidequest in the game, some western novel wasn't it? Luckily there just so happened to be one in the house, the adventures of Landon Ricketts and that Jim “Boy” Calloway, perfect for Hosea, so you took that too and walked towards the door. Your heart was in your throat, you felt nauseous already, but more so now, you turned the key in the lock and walked in. 

There they were Hosea and Lenny, sitting on the bed and talking, why were they up already? They looked at you in sheer confussin, they sure didn’t expect you to come into their room this early in the morning. “Joey, what are you doing up this early in the morning?” Hosea asked, sounding generally concerned about you. It warmed your heart, Hosea sure was a good man, even after the mean things you said to them a few days back, but you were just so angry then. 

You didn't really mean all those words...this was going to be hard for you.

“I’m feeling a bit nauseous, picked up some stomach bug and I couldn't sleep. Then I remembered that I should make it up to you.” You sighed, closing the door quietly behind you, before you sat down on the bed opposite to them. Rubbing your arms nervously, before you sat down all the things you brought with you on the bed. “Look Lenny, I didn’t mean a damn word what I said to you a few days back. It’s...It’s just that, I-i had a lot of pent up anger in my body since Tall Trees and Hosea got me a bit mad and I just…” You stopped, desperately thinking of the words to say to him. Lowering your head onto your chest, you sighed loudly. “I’m sorry Lenny, you really can do anything in life that you set your mind to. My anger got the better of me back there and I apologize. It's just….it's so hard for me to control my anger at times and I just blow up in a way...you don’t deserve that. I’m sorry..” You managed to say, it wasn't perfect, but it was the best you could say right now. Raising your head, you dared to look at them, still ashamed of yourself, but their opinions did matter to you.

“It’s okay Joey, we both have talked about it, Hosea and me. We know that you didn’t mean it back there. But you apologizing to me personally, makes me feel a whole lot better, we're worried about you Joey, you're not okay here.” Lenny said in a calm and quiet tone, as Hosea hugged his shoulder, showing him support.

“No one is ever okay, Lenny. I'm used to being just about alright for years. Don’t waste your time on me.” You sighed, it was the truth, voices in your head weren't a sign of a person being okay, you knew this. But you were so used to this, that if you lost the voices you were afraid you would lose a part of yourself. That and your emotions, sometimes you just couldn't feel anything, no matter how hard you tried, then there was your anger, the need to get it out at whatever was in your way, that wasn't normal either. But as before, you were so used to it by now..

Hosea decided to join in on your conversation, but he changed the subject. As if he saw how hard this was for you to talk about. “Joey, I have to know. Why did you take us in Saint Denis? Lenny and I are unable to find a real reason why, can you explain it to us?” 

Your breath picked up, as did your heartbeats. Did he really ask that? The reason...to make sure they lived this time..How were you going to explain this? You had to answer him, you owed him that at least. Swallowing a bit harder, you took a few deep breaths as you prepared yourself to tell them both the truth. 

“I-i took you because I foresaw your deaths there. I couldn't watch you die again...I have in a way seen this before in my head. I get these visions that will or could happen at times and you two were in it, so I managed to persuade Colm and Murdoch to grab you and stuff.” You halflied to them, you couldn't really say that you were from the future and that they were characters in a game now could you? So you stuck to visions or something like that. But you were sweating up a storm, this was really hard for you, the voices and your body screamed “Stop!” but they deserved to know, they asked didn’t they? 

Hosea looked at you seemingly unfazed. “What would happen to us if you didn’t grab us in there?”

“The Pinkerton Agent Milton knew that you were coming, you messed it up once you robbed that pokerboat, so they were already in town, waiting for you. Bronte owns the city, so he probably talked to them too. Milton knew that you would rob the bank using a distraction, so he would grab you Hosea as a hostage to get Dutch out, but he wouldn't come out and you would be shot in the lungs and die on the streets. Lenny here would die on the rooftops, as the gang would be escaping the bank, only to be mortally shot in the stomach by a shotgun and die by the law. So I decided to change that, but it came with a price, such is the way of these things.” 

Hosea and Lenny looked at you with stern faces, shocked before Hosea pushed on. “What price do you mean Joey?”

Grabbing your chin with your hand, you scratched your eye before you answered him. “The Pinkertons are looking for me and so is Dutch and I do not think that either of them will stop until one of them gets their hands on me. But the Pinkertons for the moment don't know what I look like, or if I'm a man or a woman. Dutch does however, I worry that he might team up with them to get me or something like that, but I’m not quite sure, could be just a feeling. That's the price I meant. You save a few, but you lose your freedom in the process, such is the way of things.” You sighed, as you leaned down on your side in the bed, stomach aching for the moment and making you feel like crap.

“I think you're right about some of that, but I want to thank you, Joey. That was very brave of you, to do this for us. I think you were right, we are alive because of you.” Hosea spoke, as he walked over to your bed and sat down near your stomach, petting your back in the process.”

“I would have died there?” Lenny asked, sounding a bit scared, the poor boy. He was just 19 years old after all, his whole life ahead of him. 

“Yeah...but I went through a lot of trouble but I managed to save you. I saved Sean too, he’s alive and well, annoying Colm and Murdoch everyday. I told them that I adopted him as my brother, took a while before they accepted him, but I managed to do it once. I’m sure I can do it again. I think it was last month that i talked to Micah and tried to persuade him to take the boys and join us, but I’m unsure if he listened. I mean Murdoch did beat him quite good.” 

“It sounds like you’re out to steal us all from Dutch.” Hosea lauged, as he placed his arm on your hip and pushed himself closer to your head, before he gave you a hug. “Thank you my dear, I mean it you saved us, pity that you can’t teach your brother-in-law some manners yet, then we have your husband, can you teach him some manners too?”

You laughed as you hugged Hosea in a warm hug, you had missed him so much, all this time away from him, it was hard, he was such a good man and so as Lenny and Sean, good people, that deserved a second chance and you would give them all the help you could. “I missed you both so much, did they hurt you?” 

“Just a few bruises here and there, nothing to worry about my dear. It pales in comparison to what you did. But saying that I’m worried about you Joey, you’ve grown much angrier since last we met, you need a little help, then I think you’ll be just fine.” 

“Yeah, perhaps I do. But until then, you boys rest up here, I brought you some treats and a book for you, my precious silver fox. Just go along with what Colm and Murdoch says. I might as well add that I don’t know where Dutch and the others are for the moment, I stopped caring after that whole thing in Saint Denis, if you want details ask Sean or Kieran or my fellow swedish Ludwig, for now I’m going back to bed before Colm wakes up and throws a hissyfit on this. I really shouldn't be in here with you dangerous outlaws.” You laughed, as you rose from the bed and patted Hosea’s knee and then patted Lenny’s hand. “But it was great talking to you two again, but remembered what I said.” You finished, as you walked out of the room and locked the door and started to walk back towards your room. 

Walking into your room again, Colm was still out cold in the bed. A bit of a relief that he didn’t know what you just did with Hosea and Lenny. Climbing ever so carefully into bed, you still felt bloated and umcomptable, stupid stomach giveing you more headache by the minute. But you finally managed to snuggle up against Colm. He seemed to know that you were back at once, as soon as you had your back faced to him, he wrapped his arms around you like an octopus and nuzzled his head into the crook of your neck, all whilst he grumbled in his sleep, quite an impressive feat. But you were tired again, so surely and slowly your eyes began to feel heavy and before long you had fallen asleep again. 

Later that day, you awoke to Colm nudging you awake, what was he on about today?

“Lemme sleep, it’s warm here, get back in here.” You said, in a sleepy voice lifting the covers, inviting Colm back in.

“We are going to Blackwater today darling, it's an Irishtheme today at the big saloon, that and some poker tournament and you’re coming with me.” Colm said with a happy tune, ah Irishthemed party? Of course he had to go there, booze and poker there would surely there would be a fight or two there. But this is the life you married yourself into, not that it bothered you too much. 

“Mhm, so when is this grand party that will totally not result in a fistfight?” You said in a mocking tone, as you turned your head face down into your pillow, your stomach still felt like crap, bloated and making you feel sick almost to the point of throwing up. 

“You got me protecting you, no one would dare to touch you if I’m there.” Colm said in a calm tone, as he grabbed one of your hands and started kissing your knuckles, man was he good at persuading you at times. “And we’ll go as soon as we can, it starts at 12 today and lasts the whole day. So, come on get up.” 

“You planned this, didn’t you?”

“Maybe...for a few days I have.”

“Mhm, so how many are coming with us to the big party today then?”

“Let’s see, me, my brother, William since he’s damn good at poker, then there’s that new guy, maybe Monty and some others, but around 20 I would think.” Colm said, as you could hear the gears in his head turning, he sure was funny without releasing it at times. It only made him more cute and attractive to you.

“Alright, alright, I’m coming, but why isn’t Bella coming with us today?” You asked, as you raised yourself out of the bed and looked after your favorite outfit for today, the legend of the east, but with a green neckerchief as a twist.

“She's been feeling a little ill since yesterday, that and she should take it easy now, she’s almost 4 months pregnant by now.”

“Alright, just checking with you that’s all.” You said, as you put your clothes on, catching Colm admiring the view. “Like what you see here, big guy?” You flirted, as you finished putting your pants on, still feeling bloated and sick but you sucked it up for now. 

“Can’t a man admire his wife's curves?”Colm said with a sly grin, as he walked up behind you and put his head on your shoulder and hugged your waist, making it a little difficult for you to put your coat on. 

“Sure you can,but it’s difficult to put my coat on when you’re leaning on me like this?”

Colm just shifted closer towards you as a reply, whilsts hugging you a bit harder now. “What are you gonna do bout’ that then, raspberry?” 

You answered him by grabbing his hand and kissing his knuckles, slowly and gently. “Don’t know, guess we’re stuck here, shame thought you wanted to go to Blackwater and all, shame indeed.” You teased, as you swayed a bit on your place. 

“Clever girl ain’t ya? Using that against me?”

“Hmm, guess I am.” You said with a feign voice, playing so innocent, that you almost felt like slapping yourself. But it did the job, Colm released you from his warm embrace and led you downstairs, where you had some breakfast before you walked out of the house and wandered towards the horses. Colm was right though, there was quite a crowd going with you today, some that you kinda knew from before and others that you haven't seen before. The new ones looked real mean, but they politely nodded their heads and greeted you once you walked past them. You were Colm’s wife after all, with that title came a lot of respect. It seemed that you were sharing a horse with Colm today, as usual, he sure loved having you behind him, even though you didn’t feel like sharing a horse at all today, you still felt sick and bloated. Kinda like you were on your period, but felt sick instead of just feeling bloated as you usually did. But you didn’t want to be a bother so you just went along with it.

Murdoch was on his horse, saying his goodbyes to Bella and giveing some orders to the gang members that would be staying to watch Hosea and Lenny and to beat the life out of them if they tried to eascape or do anything stupid. You hoped that they listened to your advice that you gave them before, there wasn't much more you could do for the moment. After the orders were given, your group headed out towards Blackwater. It would be a little exciting to be back there again, it was the place where it all began, your journey and adventure. Maybe someone would recognize you from before, like that saloon owner or that curious young girl that helped you with your room? But unlike before, you had a gang that had your back unlike before, when you were all alone and exposed, this time was different. Maybe people would treat you with some respect if they saw what gang you were with now? Or maybe they would be afraid of you and cower, it was the O’Driscoll’s after all, not some two bit hucksters from some hole. They were a feared gang, a big gang. But you paid it no mind, as you focused on keeping your angry stomach in check as the gang started to get closer to Blackwater. 

Slowly and surely you had reached the cemetery at the very outskirts of Blackwater, the gang had slowed down to a walk by now, much to your realief. There sure were a lot of people around here today. There were some stalls here and there around town, the streets were closed off so that people could walk around more freely. Then there were some people running about the stalls that sold some local goodies, just for the big party. It smelled nice, but you couldn't think about eating right now, not with your stomach. As the gang neared the Pinkerton building to hitch their horses, you saw lots of townsfolk walking away from you all, out of fear. The gang haven't done anything to Blackwater, but they sure drew a lot of attention to themselves as they arrived. You saw a sheriff and some deputies that started walking towards Colm and Murdoch, rifles in hand and a stern look plastered on their faces. This could go either just okay or very badly, pulling Colm’s arm as you dismounted the horse, you pointed towards the law as they approached the gang. Colm looked at you and saw what you were looking at, only to scoff, but he seemed to appreciate the heads up you gave him.

The law had now arrived where your gang was. Glancing over everyone quickly before the sheriff spoke. “Should have guessed you lot would come over here for this party, now I will tell you this once only, so listen up and we’ll both be on our way.” The sheriff said, as he spat towards the ground and continued, his deputies looked at you and Colm briefly, before they returned to looking tough and imposing again. “Y’all gonna behave here and cause no trouble and we won’t have any problems here. Y’all decide to cause trouble and we’ll tell the Pinkertons and the bounty hunters that are here in town to lock you up. It’s that simple boy’s, am I clear enough?” The sheriff finished, as he looked at Colm and Murdoch with a hard glare, this sheriff got balls and nerves of steel, quite impressive. It didn’t feel like you wanted to mess with him and get him angry. 

Colm and Murdoch and the rest of the boys looked amongst themselves, before their bosses decided to knock down the sheriff a few inches, just because they could and they didn’t like being talked to like that by any law or anyone, they were a notorious gang after all. But it was Colm that decided to break the silence, hooking his arm in yours before he spoke.

“Look at the big sheriff here boys. Sure got more balls then the last one, whatever happened to him?” Colm mocked the sheriff, as the other boys including his brother laughed at his remark. “You stay out of our way, we stay out of your’s maybe. That’s my offer to you. By the way, if any of you bother my boys, brother, or my woman, everyone in this town will die, now am I clear enough to you sheriff?” Colm finished, a hard glare aimed towards the sheriff and his deputies. You made a mental note, stern badass Colm sure was hot, it sure turned you on, but your love sickness was dampened by your stomach once again, ugh you thought to yourself. 

“Watch yourself O’Driscoll” The sheriff snarled, back at Colm, before he turned around and walked off, his deputies in tow. 

With that, Colm and the gang walked towards the saloon, this was strange he just got threatened by that sheriff and he just brushed it off like it was nothing. It would bother you if that was you, but it seemed that your husband possessed a shiny spine, now that was hot. Colm and the others entered the saloon and you saw that same man from before behind the counter, but he didn’t see you, it would be a little awkward if he did, so you hid behind Colm as best as you could, as they looked for a table to sit at. They found a nice big table in the corner of the saloon and sat down there as the gang got themselves a few drinks, frightening off a few customers in the process as they were quite loud and bold. You and Colm sat next to each other in the corner near a wall, as his brother sat next to him.There were a few of the other customers that looked, no it felt like they stared at you were you sat. Had they never seen Colm with a woman before? Or was there another reason for their stares? Joey had no clue, so you grabbed Colm’s hand again, feeling a bit nervous, you felt like you were in the spotlight here. Colm seemed to get it, as he gently squeezed your hand back, calming you down a little.

The drinks kept on coming and the boys kept on drinking and being loud, there was some Irish music in the background, much to the delight of the Irish gang members as they either sang or howled along with the music, some could sing, others were completely tonedeaf. The poker tournament was beginning now, much to William’s delight, as he almost lunged towards the poker table. 

“Come on, you are gonna be next to me when I play poker, just for luck.” Colm teased, as his brother and you moved yourself towards the poker table that was right in the middle of the sallon, it had eight chairs empty, four of them were for the O’Driscoll’s, the other were for the men brave enough to play against them. Colm sat down in his chair, as his brother pulled up a chair for you to sit on next to them both. Which meant that you had Colm to your right and Murdoch to your left, but you didn’t play, this game wasn't something for women. In this case that it didn't matter to you, poker never interested you, watching was good enough for now.

The drinks were gathered at your side of the table, as a few brave men sat down at the table and started playing against them. Joey was doubtful if they would play fair or cheat, they didn’t exactly give the impression of being honest players. But you watched as they played, one mixed the cards and handed out a few to the others. Then you threw them poker chips in the middle as you played. Then you had to have some certain cards to play and win, or you could fold and wait for the next round, in hopes of getting better cards. Colm had a few cards in his hand, as did his brother, some you recognized as kings and queens, others were numbers and K. Wait wasn't that a knight? Then there was some A, or was it an E? You had no idea, but the others seemed to have fun, so you decided to watch what was going on in the room and outside. 

There were still a lot of townsfolk wandering around outside, some looked inside the salon and entered, others hurried past looking scared. Then you saw that sheriff outside again, but along with a few Pinkertons, but they just watched for the moment they didn’t interfere, putting your nerves at a relative ease. They could watch all they wanted as long as they stayed away it was fine. But you saw that was some commotion going on outside, it seemed like there was another gang in Blackwater as well. This would be interesting to watch, this gang was smaller, but they looked meaner. There were around 10 of them that you could see from your seat, they were hitching up their horses along the street facing the saloon. As they dismounted they gathered around in a circle and were talking and pointing towards the saloon, before some of them started laughing and walked towards the doors. Hmm, you thought to yourself. What happens next? Turning your head away from the window, you quickly glanced over the poker game in front of you. They sure were into the game, as they were squarely focused on it. But you heard the door open by now and a whole lot of footsteps with that, it sounded like all 10 of the men you saw outside had entered the room. But they stood still, why were they still? Were they looking for something or someone? 

“Colm you bastard! Haven’t seen you in ages!” One of the men shouted towards the table, earning Colm’s interest, as he looked towards the man shouting. 

“Why if it isn’t Jack Hall and his little gang!” Colm answered Jack. 

Jack Hall? You had heard that name before something about their treasures that you could find in the game? Jack was a tall man, he looked to be around 30 something, with blond hair and a typical vestern outfit, with an equally typical hat and guns strapped to him.This was interesting, so you decided to observe and watch.

“Go one scram!” Murdoch said to the other men at the table, as he gestured for Jack and his gang to join them at the poker table, a smile on his face. Were they friends?

“Eager for me to beat you again, Murdoch?”

“You got lucky in Greystone Bay, boy.” 

“Whatever you say old feller, whatever you say” 

“Since when did women play poker?” One of the men laughed, only to be met by angry glares from your gang, ah, it felt nice to know that you had people watching your back.

“This here is my wife, boy so you better behave, or I’ll put a bullet in you.” Colm said angrily to the man, whilst he hugged your shoulder with his free arm. Hehe, sure felt nice to be next to Colm and the others now.

“Wife?!” Jack shouted, as he spat out his beer, dropping his cards in the process, before he coughed a few seconds and looked straight at you. “Since when did you get a wife? Never figured you to settle down anytime soon, Colm.” Jack said, as he glanced between you and Colm, utterly amazed that your husband had found a wife. Now this was funny, but you still kept your pokerface on, just in case.

“That doesn’t concern you boy. Now are you gonna continue to irritate me or are you going to play?”

“Guess not, but I heard a few rumors that’s all.”

“And what rumors would that be then, boy?”

“Nothing much, but I did hear that Murdoch’s gonna be a father and that you got married, but sometimes rumor ain’t true, but it seems that this one was.” Jack said, as he quickly gave you a wink. Only for you to roll your eyes at him and sigh. 

Murdock seemed to get angry, he didn’t like that people knew that he was going to be a father soon. It put Bella at risk and his future child in danger, now that alone would be enough to make most people angry, but Murdoch was smart so he played it cool, but you knew that he was angry. “Do they now? Don’t people have anything better to do then annoy people like us? It’s not that we can’t find them all and kill them..” He said, emphasizing on the word kill.

Ohh, he was good, well played Murdoch..

“Just saying what I heard, That’s all, I didn’t start these rumors.” 

But the other people in the bar seemed to get Murdoch's message, as they excused themselves out of the saloon rather quickly. You took the opportunity to get up and get some air and some water while you were up, your stomach was really starting to hurt like hell. It was as if someone ran a knife through your stomach. Colm saw you get up and leave, but you getured to the backdoor outside as he went back to his game. It wasn't as if you were running away, just a short break was what you needed and some air, it sure was lively in there, but it was cold outside, luckily you had that nice red coat on for warmth. As you went outside through a backdoor at the end of the saloon, you saw a conveniently placed bench that was placed against the wall of the building. 

Sitting down on the bench, you felt so weak and sick, your stomach, it hurt so bad, almost to the point of tears but still you kept quiet and sucked it up. Why did it hurt so much? It felt as if you'd eaten nails or glass. It just hurt so bad, so you drank your glass of water, bringing you some relief to your pain, as it moved down in your belly. Due to the excruciating pain you were in, you failed to notice that you suddenly had some company on your bench. But you didn't care, all you did was to focus on dealing with the pain you were in. 

“Mind if I join you?” A man’s voice asked carefully.

“I ain’t much company, but you go ahead if you want.”  
The man sat down a little too close for comfort besides you, what was he up to? You weren’t really in a state to deal with any nonsense or other crap for the moment, but you were also too weak and tired to really do anything about it either.

“So your Colm’s wife? I pity you, it can’t be easy to be married to that bastard. He doesn't deserve to be married to such a pretty lady as you. Did he force you? Like threatening to kill your family or anything like that?” The man asked, what was he on about? Well, he maybe had a point, Colm was lucky to have you and all that. But that's none of his business, he is just a stranger that sounds like he’s jealous of your husband having something that he doesn’t have. 

“You sound jealous..” You sneered at the man, tilting your head towards him, it was that Jack. Huh, what was he playing at?

“I ain’t no such thing. Just stating some obvious facts. By the way, I didn’t catch your name. I’m Jack, the leader of the Hall gang, that shares my name.” Jack finished, looking mighty pleased with himself.

“Well then, I’m none of your business, queen of I kill men for sports mountain. Now piss off!” You almost growled at Jack, as you carefully stood up, trying to not move your aching belly too much in the process, as you rose up from the bench. 

But Jack seemed to find your anger hilarious, he let out a hearty laugh as he stood up with you. What was with some of the men here? You threatened to rip them to bits, yet they still flirted and found it funny. Were feisty women that rare? Or was it some weird fetisch that most bed men had shared? 

“I see now why Colm married you! You are almost as nasty as him in temper. But the thing here is.”Jack paused, as he grabbed you by the arm and dragged you towards the alley next to the saloon. Dammit. You were too weak to fight back, all he did was to stall you for some time. “The thing is here lady, that your dear husband in there stole a mighty big score from us a few months back, that would have landed us with a pretty neat sum. So I’m gonna steal something from him as compensation, that's where you come in.” 

There were some of his men coming towards you and Jack in the alley. They made short work of your hands and tied them behind your back. Whilst looking around themselves for any O’Driscoll’s, but you haven't been outside for more then five minutes or more. They surely wouldn't be looking for you so soon?

“Got her boss?”

“Yepp, let’s go before her husband and the rest of the O’Driscoll’s shows up.” Jack answered, as he started to drag you to a horse that one of his men had brought to the alley. 

Shit, shit! Where were the others when you needed them? 

Jack pushed you towards his horse, two other men held you by your shoulders, as Jack mounted up, gesturing for his men to get you on the horse now too. But you suddenly heard a lot of noise coming towards you and the others in the alley. Were you being saved or were the rest of the Hall gang comeing now?

Turns out that it was the rest of Jack’s gang, leading their horses towards their boss.

“Get her on before the others get here, hurry it up!” Jack ordered the gang, as the men that held you started to force you on Jack’s horse, but you were so exhausted that you could barely fight back, whilst they threw you up behind Jack. But Jack’s gang were just about to leave, as they were interrupted by a very angry Murdoch and Colm, along with the rest of the gang, all mounted on their horses and had their guns drawn.

“Going somewhere there Jack?” Colm hissed, as he aimed his gun at Jack’s head.

“You brought this on yourself Colm! Shouldn't have stolen that big score from us those few months back!” 

Colm and Murdoch exchanged a look between themselves, before they glared back at Jack again. “So what boy? Not like you at that little gang of yours would have made that score anyways! Now you hand over my woman, before all your gang get’s shot to hell!” Colm shouted, as all of the others had their fingers on their triggers, just waiting to fire their guns on their word. During their brief word exchange, you had managed to get out of the ropes that had tied your hands. Thank god for those tiny wrists of yours, not the first time that those wrists had saved you and surely would not be the last either. Now then, angry men, check, guns out?, check on that too, escape route? Looking around your surroundings you saw that there was a way for you to run to your left. Alright, you can do this..

Gathering the little strength you had left in your body, you shoved yourself off Jack's horse as quick as greased lightning and ran towards the area on your left. It was just a patch of grass, but in this case it was a safehaven and that was all you needed right now. 

The other men had started shooting towards each other and shouting threats and other things. But you feelt a bullet just grazed by your legs before you could stop. This was a very dangerous situation you were stuck in. Turning around your head in every direction, you were frantically looking for a safehaven to wait this all out. But you heard hooves running behind you, as you ran in search of some cover. As you ran past a corner you saw that it was Jack chasing you, along with Colm and Murdoch. Jack still hasn't given up on you yet. 

“Get back here lady!” Jack shouted, as he fired his guns towards your feet, he wasn't trying to kill you, no he just wanted you to stop, so he could grab you and take you as a hostage. You couldn't run forever, you were so tired, to the point of collapse, your legs were ready to give out on you at any second. Just as you were about to give up when you heard a gunshot behind you and Jack scream.

“AHHH! MY ARM!!” Jack screamed, and it sounded like he was turning his horse away from you. But you were too afraid to look, just in case he was right behind you. “You’ll get what's coming for you one day O’Driscoll! Just you wait! Come on boys, let’s get out of here!” Jack shouted, before there was the sound of many horses galloping away. Now you dared to stop, but you were absolutely exhausted and your stomach, it hurt so very bad. 

“Goddamn Jack, he’ll pay for this! Should I send some of the boys after him brother?” Murdoch shouted, from his horse, as he stopped right infront of you. 

“Forget about him for now.” Colm answered his brother, as he rode up besides you and offered you his hand to grab onto to pull you up on his horse. You took his hand and let him pull you up. You flinched in pain behind Colm’s back, as you sat down behind him. You couldn't take it anymore, the pain was too much. “You alright there sweetheart?” Colm asked you, whilst he looked back at you, worry and a hinge of fear appearing on his face.

Grabbing onto his waist, you tried to look as in you weren’t about to die in pain. “Let’s just go home…” You said quietly, as you started to take a few shallow breaths to deal with the pain. 

“Don’t you worry, we’re going back, Jack will pay for this.” Colm said, as he spurred his horse out of Blackwater along with the others. 

As you were riding back to the ranch, you started to take a turn for the worse, cold sweating and panting behind Colm’s back, just a little bit more..your head was spinning you felt so dizzy, almost unable to see or hold onto Colm’s waist..

There was still a little ways left to the ranch...a couple of minutes..

But would you make it?


End file.
